A Single Spell
by Razamataz22
Summary: Ul never cast Iced Shell against Deliora, the effects of this however created a chain of events that nobody could prevent. Lucy would not meet Natsu that day down at Hargeon, however the friendship formed is just as powerful.
1. Chapter 1

**Just something I needed to put down, not sure how it'll really go from here.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

...

The day that was upon the world of Fiore was a day like any other. Down in the port town of Hargeon, seagulls scavenged around the dockside struggling to steal a piece of food. A small child throws them a hot chip before his mother pulls him away, scolding him for doing such a thing. Elsewhere in town, a train has arrived at the station, carrying a very bizarre creature in the form of a blue talking cat. "We're here," it said in an optimistic tone.

"Yea," replied the companion, her voice showing signs that her mind just wasn't in it.

"You're thinking about him again aren't you?" asked Happy, the blue cat already knowing the answer to the question.

"It's nearly been two years since he vanished," she said looking out the window. "How many leads have we chased since that day?" Happy didn't respond to the question, not wanting to remember how many dozens of trips they had gone on without a single result. "Yet you know what, we'll continue to chase these leads in the hope that we'll one day see Natsu again, won't we Happy?"

"Aye sir, let's go Lisanna!" said Happy, his usual positive attitude being restored.

"Let's go Happy," said Lisanna, adjusting the white scarf around her neck, the piece of clothing she didn't take off any day of the week. The constant reminder of why she continued to go on these quests across the country. The hope that one day she would find him again, the boy with whom she loved, the boy who had pushed her out of the way and saved her life in a single moment, the boy who vanished in her arms as his body encased itself in a golden light. She would never forget that moment as long as she lived, that single moment changed her life completely.

...

On the other side of town, a young blonde haired girl grumbled as she left the only magic shop in town, complaining about how her sex appeal was only worth a thousand jewels. Be that as it may, Lucy Heartfilia had still purchased the Key of the White Doggy despite it being well overpriced for such a mundane celestial spirit. Her attention was diverted however as a crowd had formed off to the side. "Did you hear, a famous mage is in town," said a young woman behind her, running towards the scene with her friend.

"I heard its Salamander," replied her friend.

"Salamander," repeated Lucy. She knew well the story of Salamander, his tales of his adventures were made legendary years earlier, it was even said that fire he created was hot enough to split the sea in two. Whether or not these stories were true however and how much had become emphasised over the years was hard to tell without any hard facts. One key point she remembered though was that two years ago it was reported that he never came home from a mission. While some say that he died, others claimed that he had gone on a journey of self awareness. Needless to say, if Salamander was standing down in the plaza nearby, she had to get the scoop from him first hand.

...

Walking through the back alleyways of Hargeon, Lisanna walked along at a moderate pace, not in any real rush to get anywhere. Her fingers went upwards to push a strand of hair behind her ear, a gentle breeze causing her clothes to flutter slightly. She was unsure why she was feeling so nostalgic today. In her mind she was replaying one of the childhood scuffles that Natsu and Gray had been having within the comfort of the guild. While the two of them had been even in a fight without the use of magic, as soon as it got introduced to the fights Natsu had little chance. There was no elemental advantage in Gray's attacks; it was more because he always had a teacher around to help him further develop his skills while Natsu only knew what Igneel had taught him as a child. It was the idea of fighting the "Beast" to help him grow stronger which was the reason Natsu had joined the Take-Over family in what had been his last fight.

"Salamander-sama!" shouted a rabid fan girl, the mob of women coming into view from where Lisanna and Happy were standing.

"You're so cool," shouted another.

"Salamander!" said Lisanna and Happy in excitement at the same time.

"Time to see if we came here for nothing," said Lisanna, praying that the person surrounded by people had the pink hair she remembered so clearly. Shoving her way through the crowd with Happy by her side, Lisanna leapt into the middle of the fray. "Natsu!" she shouted, only to then realise her mistake as a dark blue haired man looked at her awkwardly. Beside him stood a blonde haired woman who seemed to have just snapped out of a trance.

"My, my, all the lovely ladies are leaping at me today," said 'Salamander' in a sultry tone.

"Get real," said Lisanna, all her disappointed anger radiating through her voice. Lucy however couldn't help but think that the white haired girl in front of her looked remarkably familiar for some reason, the blue cat only helping her theory.

Recovering from his shock, the purple haired man ran his fingers through his hair as a smile graced his lips. "If you heard the name 'Salamander' would you recognise me?" he asked only to find Lisanna and Happy already having left the circle and were heading down a nearby alleyway. "She left!" said 'Salamander' in disbelief. Some of the women looked like they were ready to pounce on Lisanna but murmurs of 'She must have a boyfriend' and some 'Maybe she's engaged,' sprang up which seemed to cause the boil of anger to drop to a simmer. One woman however didn't like that step and Lisanna found the scuff of her shirt being pulled as she was dragged in front of Salamander.

"Apologise this instant, Salamander-sama is a great mage," she said with authority.

"There, there, she didn't mean any harm," said 'Salamander' as he began to write down his autograph on a piece of paper. "Here's my signature, so you remember me next time." Taking the piece of paper in her hand, Lisanna looked up at the man before tearing the paper in half to which all of the girls looked at in shock and horror.

"C'mon Happy," said Lisanna as she turned to walk away.

"Aye sir," said Happy as the crowd parted for the white haired woman and the blue cat. As they were walking away only then did the penny drop within the crowd that the cat had talked.

"So cute," shouted several of the women as they tackled Happy to the ground, the small frame of the cat barely able to remain in a single piece as a number of women hugged him. They stopped however as they found themselves staring at a set of sharp claws, dangling playfully in front of their face.

"If you like your eyes where they are, you'll let go," said Lisanna as a warning, one which the women quickly obliged. Immediately they ran off to be in the comfort of 'Salamander' who was explaining that he was leaving.

"That's never happened before," said Happy as he struggled to get to his feet, the strength all but gone from his body.

"I imagine it was from the 'Charm' magic that guy was pulling," said Lisanna as her hand reverted back to its normal form. "Seeing something as adorable as you probably forced the attention away despite them still being under the spell."

"Hehe, you think I'm adorable," said Happy, the only real thing he got out of the statement.

"So you recognised the 'Charm' magic as well," said Lucy who was walking nearby. Lisanna looked from her spot at the blonde haired girl she had seen in the circle. "I have to thank you for breaking the magic, without your interference it may not have been possible."

"I'm glad I could help," said Lisanna smiling.

"What's worrying though is that he invited all those women to his ship tonight for a party, using magic that should have been banned a long time ago is one thing but something like that..."

"Something doesn't add up," said Happy.

"You're right," said Lisanna as she raised cusped her chin in the palm of her hand. "I'm Lisanna by the way," she said extending her hand.

"Lucy," responded the blonde haired girl, taking the offered hand.

"Well Lucy, how would you like to crash a party tonight?" asked Lisanna, a cheeky smile caressing her face.

"Crash?" repeated Lucy.

"Let's talk about it over some lunch," said Lisanna. "If we wait any longer this one's going to die of starvation."

"So hungry," complained Happy as his stomach growled loudly, much louder than should be possible for a cat.

"I see, well let me shout you for helping me earlier," said Lucy more than willing to pay.

"Its fine, Happy will just have a raw fish and I'll have a salad of some kind," said Lisanna.

"Salad? Are you on a diet?" asked Lucy. "You look gorgeous enough as it is."

"Thanks for the compliment but I need to keep my figure for the next photo shoot," explained Lisanna as the three of them began to walk towards the nearest restaurant.

"Photo shoot, are you a model?" asked Lucy, wondering if she recognised the white haired woman from some fashion magazine she had read.

"I'm not as good as my sister," admitted Lisanna, rubbing the back of her head. "She's got such a nice smile, it's hard for somebody not to like her."

"She sounds amazing," said Lucy.

"Anyway, enough about me, what do you do?" asked Lisanna.

"Even though I don't look like it, I'm a mage," said Lucy with pride as they entered the restaurant. "I'm not a fully fledged mage yet because I haven't joined a guild. You know what a guild is right?"

"Yea," said Lisanna, as they took their seat.

"There are so many popular guilds, but there's one that I want to join so much," said Lucy as she went into fan girl mode. "Joining guilds is tough though, especially the more popular ones. The guild I want to join has a lot of amazing mages, like Mirajane and Loke."

"Mira-nee," said Lisanna which caused Lucy to stop momentarily to allow that single statement to sink in.

"Mirajane's your sister!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Aye," said Happy answering for Lisanna as the white haired mage placed the order with the waitress.

"Wait a minute then," said Lucy pointing a shaking finger at Lisanna. "That means you're one of the famous Fairy sisters, you're that Lisanna!"

"You finally realised," said Lisanna, her lips curving into a cheeky smile.

'_Ohmygod, I'm_ _sitting across from a member of Fairy Tail! Okay Lucy, act cool, don't blow this opportunity,_' thought Lucy, swallowing all of her nerves. "S-So, how would one go about joining Fairy Tail?" she asked, trying not to let her voice stutter. "Is there some sort of test of strength or magical ability?"

"Just say you want to join," answered Lisanna.

"That's way too easy!" shouted Lucy in disbelief, her eyes nearly popping out of her head.

"Master believes that Fairy Tail should be open to all who wish to join," explained Lisanna.

"Still, I thought there'd have to be some sort of entry exam," said Lucy as she slumped onto the table, exhausted after getting worked up about something that never existed. As she opened her eyes she found that the waitress had brought the food over and Lisanna and Happy were now silently eating.

"You want some?" asked Lisanna, offering some of her salad.

"I think I'll order my own," said Lucy hailing a waitress.

"Alright, so we need to make a plan for tonight," said Lisanna, her eyes focusing.

"You're serious about this?" asked Lucy.

"Aye," responded Happy.

"If he was just some sleaze, then using 'Charm' magic wouldn't be so bad," said Lisanna as she pointed her fork at Lucy. "The thing is though, he's invited all those women to a party, needless to say while under the spell they'll do anything which out on the middle of the ocean is dangerous in itself. Once they're out on the ocean they can't get back."

"I think I understand what you're saying, but when it's out in the middle of the ocean, how are we going to get on board?" asked Lucy.

"We have two options," said Lisanna holding up her fingers. "One is that we enter in with the rest of the guests before the boat departs, however there will be a chance that they may recognise us as not being under the effects of the spell. The second, is that we fly in."

"Fly?" said Lucy in disbelief.

"Aye," said Happy as he finished off the last of the fish.

"Just wait until tonight, you'll find out then," said Lisanna as she went about finishing her lunch. Lucy wanted to ask more questions but as her meal was placed in front of her, she opted to wait until tonight and just discover the answers as they come.

...

As the sun began to set within the distance, Lisanna, Lucy and Happy watched as the party ship set sail from the top of a building. A breeze caused their elegant dresses to waver in the wind. In order to blend in they had chosen to get a couple of beautiful garments to wear for the evening, although Happy had simply said that Lisanna just wanted the opportunity to go shopping.

"Alright, time to go," said Lisanna.

"Wait a second, how are we going to get there?" asked Lucy, still unsure of what the plan was. It was then that she felt a weight on her back and tilted slightly to find Happy clinging on to the back of her dress. She opened her mouth to speak but was amazed as wings appeared out of Happy's back. "You can fly?"

"Aye," replied Happy as he took off, Lucy screaming all the while.

"This is crazy!" she shouted as she flailed her arms around.

"You get used to it," said Lisanna from nearby, causing Lucy to turn her head, finding the takeover mage flying beside her, her arms having transformed into green wings.

"Lisanna," said Lucy in disbelief as they flew towards the ship.

"Happy, try and get into the captain's quarters, we need to find out where this ship is heading," said Lisanna.

"Aye sir," replied Happy as they soared through the air.

"Don't I get a say in this?" shouted Lucy as she got dragged through the air. As they neared the vessel Lucy could see all of the women talking upon the deck of the ship, all of them oblivious of the spell they were under. Twisting through the air, Lisanna spotted an open window in the top most floor and made a beeline for it. "How's she going to fit through that?" exclaimed Lucy in shock.

"Just watch," said Happy as he slowed to a hover. Lucy watched as Lisanna's arms reverted back to their normal form and she dived through the window perfectly, rolling in midair so that her shoulders hit the floor boards at such an angle she was able to roll across her back without taking any pain whatsoever. Bouncing to her feet, Lisanna noticed that there was one man in the room who was at the helm, his hands on the wheel. The sound of her entering however had alerted him and turning around he stared at Lisanna. Before he could react however, Lisanna's feet had become vicious talons and she had grabbed him across the throat, slamming him to the ground.

"Where's this boat heading?" she asked menacingly as Happy and Lucy crawled through the open window.

"Bosco," he said, struggling for breath.

"Why are all the women aboard this ship?"

"Merchandise, we're going to sell them," he said as he tried to push the talon off of his neck.

"Slave trade," summarised Lisanna. "You're disgusting." Picking him up by the throat, Lisanna tossed the man at the wall, the boards breaking as the man passed through them with ease. Sadly though, it alerted the men on the other side who had been on guard. "They've seen us," shouted Lucy in fear as she held Happy tightly.

"Lucy, you're crushing me," said Happy as he tried to draw breath.

"I'll hold them off," said Lisanna as her body transformed once again, this time into a very white tigress like appearance with matching striped claws and ears. "You guys figure out a way to get this ship back to shore."

"How are we supposed to do that?" questioned Lucy but her question went unanswered as Lisanna leapt forward, intent on slowing down the ever increasing number of henchmen. Flustered, she ran forwards towards the wheel and looked at all of the levers and knobs. "Which one am I supposed to pull?"

"Turn the wheel," instructed Happy.

"That won't work, at the speed we're going we'd crash into the cliff," said Lucy pointing at the rocky outcrop. "If we damage the ship before we get to shore some of these people may drown."

"Then what do you suppose we do?" asked Happy becoming worried. Frustrated, Lucy couldn't risk touching everything she could in case she did something she'd later regret. However, a spark formed in her mind like a light bulb switching on and she turned to Happy.

"Fly me in front of the boat," she stated. Happy looked confused momentarily before choosing to abide by the celestial spirit mages words.

"Aye sir," he shouted as his wings appeared once again. In a flash, he and Lucy had manoeuvred out of the cabin and were flying in front of the boat. Inside, Lisanna was concentrating as she skilfully dodged every attack that came at her, only to return fire with several well timed swipes of her own.

"Prominence rain!" shouted a voice causing Lisanna to look up, watching as several small fireballs flew in her direction. Having no time to dodge, she could only cross her arms in front of her face as the fire burnt at her skin, knocking her back a few feet. A small scream escaped her lips as she fell on her rear as 'Salamander' walked up to her. "Well if it isn't the trouble maker," he said with a chuckle.

"You won't get away with this!" shouted Lisanna.

"The problem is, I already have," said 'Salamander' extending his arm, preparing to attack Lisanna from point blank range. Lisanna cringed, knowing that there was only one transformation she could do which would guarantee her survival. As she began to channel the magical energy however, everything around her began to shake as the entire ship was blown backwards, knocking everybody off their feet. On the deck, the women were all blown to the side as a mammoth wave picked up the ship and forcibly dragged it to shore. The resounding crash sent sand flying up in all directions, showering the nearby buildings in small grains.

"What the hell were you thinking!" shouted Lucy, once she finally regained her bearings. The person she was yelling at was her celestial spirit Aquarius who simply shrugged at the response.

"Damn, I flushed the boat along with you," she said sounding rather bored with the whole situation.

"You were aiming for me!" exclaimed Lucy.

A small smile crept across Aquarius' face as she turned around. "I won't be available for a while," she stated. "I'm going on vacation with my boyfriend for a week. With my boyfriend," she repeated before returning to the spirit world.

"You don't have to say it twice!" shouted Lucy as she turned to survey her surroundings. Thankfully, it didn't seem like any civilians had gotten hurt in the situation and even now the women who were soon to be slaves were running free.

"What the hell happened?" asked 'Salamander' as he was tossed from the ship. Gazing upwards, he saw a shadow hidden within the smoke of the white haired girl he was about to defeat.

"Lisanna!" shouted Lucy as she ran towards the scene.

"Don't worry," said Happy who was perched on Lucy's shoulder, eating away at a fish he had kept hidden. "Lisanna hasn't pulled out her most powerful transformation yet, there is no way she will lose."

"What?" exclaimed Lucy, hearing that Lisanna still had a trick left.

"It's time you suffer," said 'Salamander' as he prepared his spell. Swinging his arms out wide, a magic circle appeared in front of him. "Prominence Typhoon!" he shouted as a spiral of flames spewed forth. Lisanna paid it little attention however as the flames enveloped over her as she channelled her own magical energy.

"Lisanna!" shouted Lucy in fear before something reminiscing a rocket shot upwards through the flames. All could only watch in awe as the wings flashed wide in a dazzling display to reveal a bird comprised entirely out of flames.

"Animal soul: Phoenix," said Happy in a calm tone to which Lucy's jaw dropped wide.

"Phoenix, the fire bird that bursts into ashes at the end of its life to only to be reborn again," exclaimed Lucy.

"We found one on our journey," said Happy. "Lisanna managed to cast Take Over on it and she is now able to call out its power at will. The amount of magical power it take to maintain such a spell however is great so she can only use it on rare occasions."

"Bora-san, it's the phoenix of Fairy Tail," exclaimed one of the henchmen, afraid of the sight before him.

"Idiot, don't call me that," said Bora.

"Flaming rain!" shouted Lisanna from high above as she flapped her wings in rapid succession, sending small bullets of fire raining down at the crooks. Without any shelter, they had little chance to block the pain as it burned their skin. Bora was the only one to avoid the attack, using his 'Red Carpet' to fly out of the way. He didn't get far however as he felt a hot talon grab him by the back of the head before he was forcibly pushed downwards, his face hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

"Hope you learned your lesson," said Lisanna as she removed the spell, her body returning to normal as Bora twitched beneath her, the only signs that he was still alive.

"That was incredible Lisanna!" exclaimed Lucy as she ran up to where the white haired girl was standing.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it if it wasn't for you," said Lisanna with a smile, one which quickly spread to Lucy's lips as well. It didn't last however as the embers Lisanna had rained down upon the villains had not been so well aimed, some of the fire having landed on top of houses and upon market stalls. Within seconds the fire grew to immense proportions as flames leapt high into the air. Lucy could only stare wide eyed before a hand clasped around her wrist. "Quick, bail," screamed Lisanna as she started running off.

"What, why?" questioned Lucy as she struggled to get to her feet. Her only response however was Lisanna pointing up towards the city where a number of soldiers were marching towards the port. "I'm too cute to get arrested," screamed Lucy as she started running on her own.

"I know somewhere where you'll fit in just fine," said Happy who was flying beside them.

"Where?" asked Lucy.

"Fairy Tail, you keen?" asked Lisanna. A few moments passed as Lucy pondered over the question before a positive smile spread across her lips.

"Yes!"

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Needing ideas for take overs for Lisanna, any suggestions throw them at me, cheers.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

Walking through the city of Magnolia, Lucy looked around at all of the stores with a sense of awe, much like how a child walks into a candy store for the first time. Making mental notes, she tried to remember the location of certain buildings she would have to visit later on. Walking by her side was Lisanna who couldn't help but chuckle at the way Lucy was acting. "You seem to be enjoying yourself," she said through her gentle smile.

"This place is amazing," said Lucy observing the people around her.

"Aye," said Happy, agreeing with what Lucy was saying.

"If you're acting like this now, I can't wait to see what you're like when you see Mira-nee," said Lisanna.

"I can't believe I'm going to meet the real Mirajane," said Lucy as stars formed in her eyes. "She's such a beautiful and well known person, it's like a dream come true."

"I think somebodies a little star struck," whispered Lisanna to Happy who nodded in approval.

"By the way Lisanna," said Lucy coming back to reality. "Is it really alright for me to walk up to the door and say that I want to become a member of Fairy Tail?"

"Of course," said Lisanna smiling reassuringly. However the longer looked at Lisanna's smile she noticed that there was something else in there, almost regret or loss, she couldn't quite place it but knew not to question it at this time.

"Here we are," said Happy joyfully which caused the two girls to stop in their tracks. Turning forwards, Lucy's mouth went wide as she looked at the guild. It was as if everything she could have dreamed of had come true in a single moment.

"Fairy Tail," she said, enjoying the sound of the words from her lips.

"Come on," said Lisanna as she stepped up to the front door, Happy walking by her side. Lucy slowly walked forwards, as if these few steps would be the most important she ever took in her life. Placing her hand on the door, she gently pushed forward and opened herself up the vibrant world in front of her. The last thing she expected to see however was a young man fly through the air before crashing against a wall.

"What the hell?" she screamed as the body dropped to the floor.

"That's what you get," said a man standing in the middle of the room, his shirt having been lost at some stage. He had his hands in his pocket as if he was bored with the whole thing, from his neck a small dagger shaped pendant swung from side to side.

"Gray, what did you go and do that for?" asked Lisanna as if she was pouting, getting closer to the bare-chested mage.

"Hmm, I didn't know you were back Lisanna," he said looking towards the white haired girl.

"Don't avoid the question," said Lisanna raising a finger.

"Is it always like this?" asked Lucy directing the question at the blue cat by her feet.

"Aye, somebody was probably just teasing Gray about something and they pushed it too far. There are some things that you should never bring up around him," explained Happy.

"Is he dangerous?" asked Lucy.

"Aye, he nearly became an S class mage last year but came second," said Happy.

"S class..." said Lucy repeating the words.

"Aye, there are quests which only S class mages can undertake so the guild holds a tournament every year to determine who will be promoted to S class, not to mention it was his first attempt as well."

"I think I understand how it works," said Lucy. "Wait, does that mean he wants to do all those dangerous quests, but he can't be older than me!"

"Who's that?" asked Gray noticing Lucy standing at the entrance talking to Happy.

"Ah Lucy, come meet the guild members," said Lucy beckoning Lucy closer. The celestial mage was not really sure about approaching the mage after what Happy had been telling her. Slowly she walked to where Gray was and raised her hand slowly.

"Nice to meet you," she said trying not to sweat bullets.

"Name's Gray," he said taking Lucy's extended hand.

"Lucy," responded the blonde mage.

"Ah, who might this beauty be?" asked a silky voice from nearby. Turning her head, Lucy came face to face with Loki, a man she recognised as the "Weekly Sorcerers" most eligible bachelor list.

"This is Lucy," said Lisanna introducing her friend.

"Ah, such a beautiful name for such a beautiful face," said Loki. Lucy's mouth simply flapped open and down a number of times, unsure of how to react to such a compliment. Sure she had tried to utilise her sex appeal to get the key in Hargeon but for somebody to simply come out and say it like that was unexpected to say the least.

"Real men don't have more than one lady waiting for them," said a brutish man as he came close to where the group was standing.

"One lady?" repeated Lucy.

"Loki, we're waiting for you," came a pair of voices nearby and Lucy turned around to see two women eagerly waiting for Loki to come sit with them again.

"Alright my ladies," said Loki before turning back to Lucy. "If you ever need me, just call."

"What was that all about?" asked Lucy to nobody in particular.

"Elf-niichan," said Lisanna looking up at her older brother.

"Niichan?" repeated Lucy.

"Aye, Elfman is Lisanna and Mirajane's brother," explained Happy.

"I see."

"This is Lucy, we met in Hargeon and she wanted to join Fairy Tail," explained Lisanna.

"I see, a friend of Lisanna's is a friend of mine," proclaimed Elfman.

"Ah, a new member?" asked a wise voice from nearby. Turning her attention around (and down), Lucy's eyes focused on a small man with a white moustache covering the whole of his upper lip.

"This is Fairy Tail's master, Makarov," said Lisanna introducing the elderly wizard.

"Master?" exclaimed Lucy, wondering how much magical power the elderly man carried within his body.

"Lisanna, the council wasn't all too happy with you burning half of Hargeon down, but after having been shown the damage I knew they were merely over exaggerating the situation. You did a good job bringing those slave traders to justice," said Makarov, his voice holding the compassion of a grandfather. "Although next time please try to not cause as much collateral damage."

"I didn't do anything to hurt the guilds reputation?" she asked.

"It's merely another complaint to the list, don't worry about it," said Makarov brushing the topic off. "Now, who is this new member?"

"I'm Lucy," said the blonde haired girl.

"Nice to meet you," said Makarov.

"Shouldn't you be a little more worried about what the council will do to the guild?" asked Lucy.

"Meh, the council has been on Fairy Tail's back for years and will continue to be a nuisance for many years more, pay no attention to them and let me handle it," said Makarov brushing the comment off. He began moving off to the bar where Lucy observed a brown haired woman drinking a glass of wine...at least she was until she lifted up a nearby barrel and placed it to her lips. Her thirst would not be quenched however as a hand shot up and grabbed the lip of the barrel, holding it at an angle so that no liquid fell forth.

"That's enough Cana, enough of the guild's money goes into paying for the alcohol you consume here," said a menacing tone.

"Fine, fine," said Cana as she got to her feet and walked to a nearby table, pulling out a packet of tarot cards and opting to read into her cards.

"Come on, let's go get you inducted into the guild," said Lisanna grabbing Lucy by the wrist.

"Okay," said Lucy as she was dragged forward. Walking up to the bar, she felt a powerful presence radiating in front of her and she didn't know whether or not to keep pushing forward or stop in her tracks. Her attention was diverted however as the door to the guild swung open wide causing everybody to turn around.

"Macao!" shouted his long time friend Wakaba who saw the purple fire wielding magician leaning against the door. "You've been gone a week, what happened?"

"Damn... vulcans...so...many...monkeys," he said pausing between each word.

"Quick, somebody bring food, water and a blanket," instructed one of the guild members, seeing that Macao was in desperate need of some nourishment.

"Geez pal, don't scare us like this," said Wakaba as he slung his shoulder over Macao.

"Be happy I made it back," said Macao, managing to spout a grin despite being in a less than healthy position. "Hope Romeo hasn't been worried."

"Are you kidding?" asked Wakaba as he pointed over Macao's shoulder. Turning around, Macao saw the small frame of his seven year old son standing there with tears of joy in his eyes.

"Romeo," said Macao, slowly walking towards his son despite the pain he was in.

"Daddy!" shouted Romeo as he charged forward and leapt into Macao's arms, the father barely able to remain on his feet as his son cried into his chest.

"It's okay...I'm home," said Macao slowly, determined to maintain this hug as long as possible. Standing at the door to the guild, the members of Fairy Tail couldn't help but smile as father and son were reunited. Even Lucy shed a tear at the sight until she felt an arm drape over her shoulder.

"Isn't the love between a father and son wonderful," said Loki, his voice charming its way into Lucy's ear. Unfortunately however after only knowing the bachelor for a few minutes, Lucy was not really keen on moving this quickly into any sort of relationship, be it friendly or romantic.

"Piss off," she said as she swung around, punching Loki straight in the middle of the face, knocking him several feet back to the floor below.

"I reckon the new girl will fit right in," said Wakaba, chuckling slightly.

"Ohmygod, I'm so sorry," said Lucy realising she may have overreacted as she knelt beside Loki. From where he was lying however he got a good view of the keys she had linked to a single ring.

"You're a celestial mage!" he exclaimed as he backed several feet away from where Lucy knelt.

"Yes?" replied Lucy, unsure of what to expect.

"I'm sorry for everything," said Loki before he ran off as quickly as he could, leaving Lucy there wondering what just happened.

"Don't worry about that," said Lisanna as she helped Lucy stand upright. "Loki has a bit of trouble with celestial mages, it's kind of like an irrational fear."

"If you say so," said Lucy unsure of what to make of the whole situation.

"Come on, let's go get your guild stamp," said Lisanna leading Lucy once again to the bar as the guild members resumed their earlier places, a general cheery mood having set in. Lucy turned to look at the guild and couldn't help but smile as to how everybody treated one another, as if it was all just one big extended family. To be a part of such a family, it was like a dream come true.

"Hey Lisanna, I haven't seen Mirajane anywhere," said Lucy noticing an absence of the model.

"She's probably doing a mission somewhere, she's an S class mage so it's not surprising," said Lisanna.

"Mirajane's an S class mage?" said Lucy, wondering how somebody so beautiful was also so amazingly skilled in magic.

"She's been an S class mage for years now," said Lisanna as her smile faded ever so slightly for a moment. Lucy had noticed it however but opted not to say anything, assuming that Lisanna was just scared for her sister's safety. Turning her attention forward, she made her way to the bar counter where a scarlet haired woman was polishing a glass.

"So you're the new girl," she stated, noticing Lucy standing there.

"I'm Lucy, nice to meet you," said Lucy smiling.

"Likewise, I'm Erza Scarlet."

...

**I know it isn't that long but I'm not going to be writing for the next three weeks and just wanted to get something out for you guys to enjoy.**

**Bosstsuna27: Interesting idea, will have to look into it much later down the track**

**BreadStarz: Glad you liked the Phoenix take over, it took me so long to think of a suitable fire creature for her to transform into.**

**Sukazu's: Give it time for the off manga stuff to come, I just need time to mould my backstory.**

**Jimbob86: Keep reading and you'll find out how.**

**RedDragon:...ssssshhhhhhhh!**

**Please leave a review, it'll help motivate me when I come back from my holiday. Have a happy easter everybody. Peace out.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

As the first rays of the morning sun crept in through the window, Lucy groggily opened her eyes holding her head as a slight groan escaped her lips. Sitting up, she pushed the blanket off of her body as she stretched her arms out wide. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she surveyed her new home. After having greeted the majority of the guild and had gotten to know them, if even only slightly, she had gone through town in search of a house to stay in. She had been contemplating one small house that looked almost picture perfect and the price was something could only have dreamed of, but it had been Erza who had talked her out of it.

Even though they had only met an hour earlier, the scarlet haired woman seemed to have taken a liking to the young celestial spirit. At first Lucy complained about why she shouldn't rent the house when Erza had explained that she could rent a room in Fairy Hall for only thirty thousand more Jewels a month. To Lucy, an extra thirty thousand jewels a month seemed like an awful amount considering she had only just become part of the guild and hadn't even taken up a single assignment yet but when Erza had explained some of the perks the answer was a simple one. In actuality, Lucy felt like the company of living under the same roof as a majority of the other female mages was a big bonus, one she would happily take up. She couldn't wait to get to know everybody that little bit better and learn from them.

Lisanna didn't live in the mage building but Lucy had to admit that the Take Over mage had little reason to. She had a brother in Elfman and a sister in Mirajane and she could tell by the way that Lisanna and Elfman had interacted the prior day that they were happy to be together as a family. "You're finally awake," said a calm voice nearby. Acting purely on instinct, Lucy picked up the nearest object and hurled it at the intruder, only for her to catch it in her gauntlet encased hand. "Is that any way for you to treat your roommate?"

"Then don't come into my room while I'm sleeping!" shouted Lucy in defence. Having been shocked suddenly into being fully awake, she noticed the different look about Erza. Instead of the barmaid outfit she had been wearing the prior day she was now donned in a suit of armour which gave her a much more offensive look. "Why are you wearing armour?" she asked.

"I feel more comfortable in it," explained Erza which only left Lucy to ponder how a suit of armour could be considered comfortable at all. "You could try it out if you wanted, I could teach you the basics of Requiping."

"Requiping?" asked Lucy having never heard the word before.

"You are aware of Lisanna's take over magic are you not?" asked Erza to which she received a nod of approval. "Requiping is similar in a sense but instead of changing the form of your actual body you change the form of your weapon and/or armour depending on the situation needed. Like Take Over magic, it has the same limitations in that I cannot simply change into any armour I imagine, but it has to be something that I own and have inserted into a personal dimension."

"That sounds complicated," said Lucy. "Could you show me an example?" Erza, happy to oblige allowed a golden glow to surround her as her armour changed into something else entirely, the scarlet haired woman back into her barmaid outfit. "That's amazing."

"I have outfits stored away for nearly every occasion, although there can be times when I may not have the right type of equipment, hence why I've been learning a secondary magic."

"Secondary magic!" exclaimed Lucy. "I thought a magician could only set himself down a certain magical path and only expand in the techniques and strengths that the path allowed."

"It's true, some of the strongest magicians are only known for their primary magic, but that does not mean that there aren't other types of magic that they can use. Rumour has it that Master is capable of using at least six different types of magic, potentially much more than that."

"Six types of magic," said Lucy in awe. "So what other magic are you learning at the moment?"

"Well like you said, I was able to progress so far down a certain pathway with my Requip magic but in learning a new type of magic I had to start at the beginning, research everything I needed to know in the guild library." Erza began to channel magic through her before thrusting her hand forward, only for an exact copy of her to appear.

"You made a clone!" said Lucy staring at the secondary Erza.

"Not quite," said Erza as she swung her hand through her secondary self, the image faltering slightly before vanishing into nothingness. "I'm working on the ability to create illusions, when I'm able to progress further I should be able to make the illusion move and even talk before I begin trying to give it physical form."

"Is there a reason you're learning this type of magic?" asked Lucy. "I can understand the reasoning for learning a secondary magic but how would this coincide with your Requip magic?"

"On more than one occasion I have faced an enemy who has been able to attack me from a range and in defeating them I have taken a great deal of damage. I hope by being able to create an illusion of myself I can draw their fire away from me in order to get closer and deal the finishing blow myself."

"So why would you suggest I learn Requip as a secondary magic?"

"Celestial mages require the spirit they have summoned to do the fighting for them, usually making the caster not worry about their own strength and thus they become physically weak," said Erza.

"That was a cheap blow," muttered Lucy to herself before she focused back on Erza. "Why do you continue to grow stronger if you're the barmaid at Fairy Tail?"

"I'm also an S class mage," said Erza which caused Lucy's eyes to go wide. "Mirajane and I do rotational swaps and during the time when I am not on missions I use it to increase my own strength."

Lucy merely nodded at Erza, unsure what to say after that statement and the two continued to look at one another briefly. "I'm going to go have a shower," said Lucy as she finally got out of bed, the fact that Erza was still sitting there in their room not concerning her anymore.

"Why not come to the group bathroom?" asked Erza as she got to her feet, making her way to the door.

"Maybe next time," said Lucy brushing it off, not sure if she'd be comfortable sharing a bath with the other female members of the guild yet.

"Okay then, I shall see you at the guild," said Erza as she left, allowing Lucy to take a sigh of relief.

Moving towards the bathroom, her eyes travelled briefly towards her keys and she quickly made a mental note to summon and make the contract with her latest celestial spirit when she got out of the shower. "Requip magic huh," she muttered as she closed the door behind her, unsure if any other unexpected guests would barge in.

...

As Lucy entered the guild, once again she found herself confronted by a barrage of laughter and joy radiating from everyone as they talked to one another about nothing in particular, merely interacting for the sake of interacting. Over in the corner she was able to see that Wakaba and Macao were having an arm wrestling competition which was being bet on by a number of guild members, shouting out the name of who they were supporting. Over by the bar she recognised Cana drinking away, although at a much slower rate now that Erza was standing behind the bar watching her with hawk like vision. Her eyes then focused on Gray, the one person whom she hadn't truly made much contact with (and not solely for the purpose that he didn't seem to be wearing a shirt today). After having watched him toss a man across the guild, to Lucy it seemed that he was quite cold to anyone around him but she knew it was better to not make assumptions and accusations after only just getting to meet everyone.

"Hey Lucy," said Lisanna cheerfully as she greeted the blonde haired girl.

"Lisanna, how are you this morning?" responded Lucy.

"Pretty good and I managed to find you a job," said Lisanna smiling.

"Really?" exclaimed Lucy as she clapped her hands together.

"I pulled a few strings and made a few arrangements but you'll be going with team Shadow Gear to find and retrieve a book."

"Team Shadow Gear?" responded Lucy.

"Aye," said Happy as he floated nearby, hovering in the air despite not flapping his wings. "Some jobs are tougher than a single mage can handle, so they form teams in order to help each other accomplish the mission."

"I see," said Lucy.

"I thought it best if you go with a team on your first mission just to get the hang of how missions occur," explained Lisanna.

"Couldn't we have gone on a mission together?" asked Lucy.

"Maybe next time, but today there's something I have to do," said Lisanna, her smile dropping if ever so slightly. Knowing better than not to pry, Lucy left the topic as it was at the moment as Levy, Jet and Droy walked nearby.

"So you're going to be coming with us on this mission Lucy," said Jet.

"Yes, I hope I can help," said Lucy with a slight bow.

"Don't worry Lu-chan, team Shadow Gear will be here to help you as well," said Levy, winking as a smile graced her lips.

"Lu-chan?" repeated Lucy, having never been given any other sort of friendly name before. Somehow she knew that from that one moment a great friendship was going to be created.

"C'mon, we need to go hire a carriage to get us there," said Droy.

"I wish we could just run there," muttered Jet, knowing that his magic would easily be able to get him there faster than any carriage could.

"We're not all as fast as you Jet," sighed Levy. "C'mon Lu-chan, the mission awaits."

"Shouldn't I know what the mission specifics are?" asked Lucy.

"They're nothing you need to worry about," said Levy with a slight chuckle as an evil glint in both Jet and Droy's eyes appeared if only momentarily. Treating it like a trick of the light, Lucy shrugged and began to walk alongside Levy as she squealed in anticipation of her first mission.

"Lucy," said a voice from behind causing the blonde haired girl to turn around to see Erza standing there, a small rucksack in her hand. "Take this," she commanded, throwing the sack at Lucy who caught it in both hands.

"What's this?" she asked opening it up, finding a book entitled '_Basics of Requiping' _and a small dagger encased in a leather sheath.

"Think of it as homework," smirked Erza before she turned around leaving the sack in Lucy's possession. With no real choice in the matter, she sighed and slung the sack over her shoulder as she ran to catch up with her current teammates. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Lisanna and Happy make their way across the plaza towards the far side of town.

"Do you know what Lisanna and Happy are doing?" asked Lucy to Levy as she caught up.

"You know that Lisanna goes searching for somebody constantly right?" asked Levy. Having heard the basics, Lucy gave a nod of approval. "Once a month, she goes to clean up their house so that when they return it will be as clean as possible."

"How long has she been doing it?" asked Lucy.

"A little over a year and a half," said Jet. "If anything you can say that she's got a great deal of determination in what she does."

"Over a year and a half," repeated Lucy tossing one final look over her shoulder only to find that Lucy and Happy had vanished from sight. A sigh escaped Lucy's lips as she silently prayed that Lisanna one day found the person she was looking for.

Two hours had passed since Lucy had left Magnolia and only now did Lisanna step outside of the small cottage with Happy by her side, clicking the padlock into place to ensure that nobody broke in. As they made their way back towards the guild as the sun hung high in the sky, a question arose on Lisanna's lips. "Hey Happy, do you know when she's getting back?" she asked.

"Mirajane?" asked Happy to which he received a shake of the head. "Oh, you mean her! She's been gone for three weeks now so she should have gotten to Joya country and have finished the mission considering how far away it is. I reckon she may be back in a week or so."

"One week huh, one more week of grumpy Gray then," she sighed with a shrug of the shoulders. Meanwhile over in Joya country, despite it being situated right near the desert region the effects of the recent battle still remained as members of the Magic Council's army cleared the damage that had taken place. One thing they noticed however was that even though the fight had taken place three days earlier between a wildly renown criminal infamous for using Earth Magic and the S classed mage from Fairy Tail, the effects were still evident. None more so than the ice that refused to melt by natures effects alone.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Foxy from Dattebayo Devon: Somehow I think Celestial Spirits can't be copied by Take Over mages due to the fact that they belong in a different dimension as opposed to Earth Land.**

**Jimbob86: Clutter the posts by all means, I have no problem with that.**

**Extremeryohei: The last thing I was going to do in this story was bash either of the characters. As for having them share a bath together...let me see what I can do.**

**G96 Saber: When will I have Natsu return...long ways from now, keep reading and he'll eventually appear.**

**Kaka: No yuri for you, at least not yet.**

**Goddessofnight08: A Chupacabra, really?**

**Sukazu's: I can tell you now, Lyon did not join Fairy Tail but did he join Lamia Scale...not telling.**

**Stay tuned for the next instalment soon. Peace out.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Alright everyone, I'll see you soon," said Makarov as he walked towards the door.

"Take care Master." "Have a good time." "See you soon." These were a handful of the responses which greeted him as he stood at the guild exit. Lisanna looked up from her chess match with Cana to look at the small mentor as he lifted a hand in a farewell like gesture.

"Erza, while I'm gone, you're in charge," said Makarov with a cheeky smile as everybody's gaze turned towards the red haired woman behind the counter, fear caressing their features as they swallowed nervously.

"Understood Master," said Erza with a slight bow. No more was said as the door closed behind Makarov, the master of Fairy Tail heading towards the usual meeting of guild heads. Nervous looks were sent in Erza's direction, not one member of the guild made a sound as if waiting for permission to get on with what they were doing. Lisanna was the one to break the silence however, placing her bishop forward.

"Checkmate," she announced which caused Cana to groan loudly in frustration.

"Come off it, that's just not fair," said Cana as she gripped the sides of her head. "Double or nothing!"

"No deal," said Lisanna sticking her tongue out softly. "As promised, you will not have one sip of alcohol for the next three days."

"You're a fiend, you know that," said Cana grumpily as she crossed her arms across her chest and huffed.

"I do my best," said Lisanna as life returned to the guild, the members chatting amongst themselves realising that they were momentarily safe. Getting to her feet, Lisanna walked through the centre of the hall, a smile gracing her face.

"Hey Lisanna, what did Cana want in exchange for her not drinking?" asked Macao who was sitting nearby, Wakaba by his side.

"She wanted to take me out for a night on the town," said Lisanna. "She says that she knows some people who have really good skills at making a fake licence. Tempted to go and get drunk myself just to make Cana cry."

"I'd tell you to be careful but that'd be hypocritical of me," said Wakaba taking a drag from his pipe.

"Ah, those were the days," said Macao.

"There's a story here isn't there," said Lisanna as she leaned her elbow on the table.

"Have your own drinking stories first and then we'll compare," said Macao, a crude smile lingering on his face.

"For now we'll leave you with the fact that the greatest party we had included a donkey, a box of oranges and a fire dancer," said Wakaba.

"Are you kidding?" exclaimed Macao. "The best one we had was with the chimpanzees and apple sauce."

"No way, you're getting senile with age," said Wakaba teasingly. "Now that I think about it, what about after Erza's 12th birthday and we all had our own party afterwards."

"Oh yea, I remember that time, or at least most of it," said Macao placing a hand on his forehead in thought. "From memory that was the first time we gave Laxus alcohol, man that was a fun night."

"Tell me more, tell me more," begged Lisanna, wanting to get some dirt on the lightning mage.

"Only when you've got something just as juicy to tell us," said Wakaba.

"Damn you," cursed Lisanna as she huffed and walked away as Wakaba and Macao continued to reminisce about the glory days. From nearby, Happy stood on a table watching the white haired girl's movements as he nibbled away at a piece of fish he had caught the other day. In order to ensure that he always had a meal available when he was at the guild, he had his own personal fridge behind the bar that stocked only fish that he either purchased from the market or caught at the nearby river.

The door to the guild opened to reveal team Shadow Gear returning from their mission, Lucy in tow. The blonde girl had a smile on her face that the rest of the team seemed to mimic as Lisanna bounced up to where they stood.

"How'd it go?" asked the Take-Over mage.

"Well these guys tried to use me as a maid," grumbled Lucy tossing her thumb over her shoulder towards Jet and Droy. "After that though, I guess it didn't turn out too bad. Sure there were some tough times but we managed to get through them and I even got to meet the son of my hero."

"Sounds like an everyday mission," said Lisanna with a smile.

"Come on, we'll report the mission success to Erza," said Jet.

"Hope we get to work again at some stage Lu-chan," said Levy giving the celestial wizard a high-five as she walked past.

"Sure thing Levy," said Lucy as team Shadow Gear made their way deeper into the guild.

"I was told you were learning Requip magic, Erza's going to want to know how your training's been going," said Levy. "Were you able to Requip anything yet?"

"Don't remind me," said Lucy hanging her head low as she remembered her first attempt.

...

"_You sure you're ready?" asked Droy as they all sat within the carriage, zooming towards their destination._

_Lucy nodded, "I've read the book twice over and understood all the fundamentals. Now I just have to put it in practical use."_

"_Good luck Lu-chan," supported Levy as she watched with baited breath as Lucy began to store magical power. Nobody made a sound as Lucy gripped the dagger, her eyes shut in concentration. Magical energy began to radiate from her body as a soft glow surrounded the dagger. A small flash of light blinded the members of team Shadow Gear and they were forced to look away before they turned back to find that the dagger had vanished._

"_I did it!" shouted Lucy before looking at Jet and Droy to see that they were supporting bloodied noses while Levy had turned crimson red in colour. "What's wrong?"_

"_Lu-chan, your clothes..." stammered Levy, the words getting caught in her throat. Confused Lucy looked down at her body to find that not only had she managed to send the dagger into a temporal void, but also her entire outfit leaving not a thread of clothing on her._

_..._

Lisanna hit the table and clutched her sides as she laughed at the situation. "It's not funny," said Lucy trying to be intimidating but after such a story it was hard to be anything but comic.

"Sorry, sorry," said Lisanna as she composed herself. "Did you manage to get your clothes back?"

"No, they're still stuck in the void," said Lucy as she calmed down. "I didn't want to try and get anything back in case I just end up losing all my clothes again. I'll need to talk to Erza about it and then I'll try back in Fairy Hall."

"That's probably the best idea, at least that way if you have another accident nobody will be around to see it," said Lisanna. Lucy wanted to report that when she had woken up in her new bed she had discovered that there was an extra body in her room in the form of the scarlet haired woman but opted to remain silent on the topic unless she incur the wrath of Erza. While it may have been an invasion of privacy, at the same time there had been good intention behind it so she couldn't overly complain about the situation.

"So did you get any jewels for the job, from memory it was worth 200,000," said Lisanna.

"Originally, but it was bumped to two million jewels," said Lucy which caused Lisanna's mouth to drop. "When we saw however that if they gave us two million it would practically cripple them financially for life, we opted to go back to the two hundred thousand."

"Not a bad starting mission," said Lisanna with a shrug as the door burst open, Loke standing in the empty space with a serious expression adorning his features.

"The demon's returned," he said in a foreboding voice. Immediately a number of guild members backed away from the front door as if it was cursed, fearing what was on the other side. Oblivious, Lucy looked around at everybody's expressions, wondering why they seemed so frightened.

"What's going on?" asked Lucy.

"Mira-nee's come home," said Lisanna.

"Mirajane's coming!" exclaimed Lucy, slamming her palms on the table as she shot to her feet.

"I wouldn't get too close to start with," said Lisanna in a warning tone but Lucy paid no attention to it as she bolted towards the door, determined to have a look at her role model in the flesh. As her eyes adjusted to the outdoors light, she immediately realised why everyone had backed away as what could only be referred to as a demon sauntered towards her. Two blackened wings extended from her shoulder blades as a thick reptilian tail swayed from side to side with every step. They were clothed in skin tight purple clothes that left little to the imagination and as her white hair swayed in the breeze the jagged crack that split across her right eye was clearly visible.

"Is this...Mirajane," said Lucy in disbelief as the demon woman walked past her, not even paying attention as she made her way into the guild hall. Entering the building, she looked around at everybody who stared at her in fright, before a blinding light surrounded her and in an instant her demonic features had vanished.

"Hey everyone," she said happily, raising her hand in a polite wave. As she went towards the bar to tell of her venture to Erza, Lucy made her way back inside and to the table where Lisanna was sitting.

"Is that really your sister, Mirajane who appears in 'Weekly Sorcerer?'" she asked shaking slightly.

"It is, that was her Take-Over magic, Satan Soul," explained Lisanna.

"Satan Soul," repeated Lucy.

"Aye," said Happy from nearby as he landed on the table with a soft sound. "Mirajane's one of the strongest mages in Fairy Tail."

"In order to increase her magical strength, whenever nee-san goes on a mission by herself she maintains her transformation for as long as possible, in order to stretch her abilities to the limit," explained Lisanna.

"Stamina training," said Lucy to which Lisanna nodded in agreement. "So everybody here is determined to get stronger."

"Years ago, there was a young boy who continuously screamed that he would get stronger and stronger any way that he could. He would challenge Gray on a daily basis and then he'd fight Erza and even nee-san would humour him in a fight from time to time. He never stopped and was always trying to push forward. Then one day, he didn't come back from a mission." Lisanna paused momentarily, breathing heavily as Lucy lifted her palms to cover her gaping mouth. "Since then, everybody in the guild became determined to get stronger, if not for themselves then for the guild in his memory."

If Lucy wanted to make any comment about the situation she lost the chance as tears streamed down Lisanna's eyes, the white haired girl taking off as fast as her legs could take her. In seconds she was out of the guild and out of sight. "Lisanna!" shouted Happy as he took off after his friend, determined to be by her side. Lucy extended a hand but did no more, unsure of what benefit she could be in such a situation. With a defeated heart, she allowed her arm to drop as she decided to go introduce herself to her idol now that she wasn't in a demonic form.

...

As the night sky glistened as far as the eye could see, Lucy sat on the floor of her room, the thoughts of today resting on her mind. She had accomplished her first mission as a legitimate mage, had met her idol and discovered why everybody in the guild was determined to grow stronger. Opening her eyes, she looked directly at the dagger resting upon the wooden floorboards. As she leant forward and gripped the dagger within her hand, she was determined that even if she had never met this influential person before, their determination would not falter with her.

Hours would pass as the night continued on, a single light radiating from a room in Fairy Hall. The light illuminating the darkness was they symbol of Lucy's hope, determination and future. For just as many hours as Lucy remained awake, trying again and again to master the basics of a secondary magic, Erza stood silently on the other side of the door, smiling as she heard groans of frustration and cheers of success. When the light finally switched off and Lucy went to bed, Erza made the move to her room, knowing that only more training awaited the celestial mage, training she was more than happy to help out with.

...

**I'd like to thank everybody for their ideas in what Lisanna will transform into, as to whether or not I'll use them yet is undetermined.**

**Suikodengal: Gray with Mirajane? Where did you get that idea from?**

**Indh13: Yes, you seem to be quite fascinated with everybody's favourite Ice mage. However, why does everybody think that there's something between Mirajane and Gray?**

**Max Tiger: I'll do my best to not make it Slash**

**Peddy-kun: I don't need to look up drop bears, I live with them every day. AUSSIE FOR LIFE!**

**Takawai: I am enjoying my writing, writing this sort of story is really refreshing.**

**Peace out and please review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

...

Lucy screamed in fear as the blade came directly at her forehead, only by instinct alone was she able to bend her knees and duck underneath the attack. With her head being protected only by her arms, Lucy prayed that the day would not be her last. "Again," commanded Erza, her voice unwavering as she pointed her sword down at the cowering celestial spirit. Nervously, Lucy got back to her feet, her legs barely able to contain her weight as she picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground. Now that Lucy was beginning to study the art of Requip, Erza thought it necessary that she help teach Lucy how to fight with the weapons she was able to summon. Twelve minutes later Lucy was sweating more than she had ever done so in her life, a mix of fear and adrenaline.

"Don't you think you're being a bit mean?" asked Mirajane who was standing nearby, giggling at the scene before her. "Shouldn't you be walking her through the basics to start off with and then move to how to fight an opponent instead of telling her to fight when she has no idea how?"

Several moments passed as Mirajane's words sunk in before Erza slammed her right fist into her left palm. "Of course, the basics, how could I have forgotten?"

"You couldn't have mentioned this sooner!" shouted Lucy in frustration.

"You're also going to have to have her work on strength and stamina, not everybody can swing a blade around as long as you can," said Mirajane with a smile across her face.

"Yes, come Lucy we're going on a twenty mile jog in order to get your stamina up as a warm up then we'll get into some basic drills," commanded Erza as she forcibly grabbed Lucy by the collar.

"Why me?" screamed the celestial mage as she was dragged off into the distance. With no other say in the matter, Lucy was dragged to the side of town as Erza requiped her clothing into something that represented a jogger's outfit. "Just wondering Erza, how strong is Mirajane? You don't seem like the kind of person to take orders from just anybody yet she seems like the kind of person who commands your respect."

"I'm not quite sure how strong Mira is compared to myself, the last time we fought we had to stop as our fight caused a mountain to crumble and we had to work together in order to stop the landslide from crushing everybody in a nearby town." Lucy wasn't sure why, but the way that Erza had said that so matter-of-factly sent shivers down her spine, as if it was an everyday thing. "Now come Lucy, the day is young and there is much training yet to be done." Lucy swallowed nervously as she began to follow Erza who had started a gentle jog, the only thought on her mind was whether or not she would survive the day ahead.

...

"Ah Master, you've returned," said Lisanna as the small frame of the wizard saint stepped through the door of the guild.

"Anything unusual happen at the meeting Master?" asked Mirajane as Makarov walked up to the bar before taking a seat on top of the wooden platform.

"A dark guild attacked us, but we sent them on the right path," said Makarov with no shift in his voice. "Apart from that there was nothing unusual, just an average day."

"That's good to hear," said Mirajane.

"Anything unusual happen while I was gone?" asked Makarov as Mirajane placed a drink up on the table.

"Nothing out of the ordinary as you can see," said Mirajane. "Everybody's as happy as can be." While Makarov took this in stride as he lifted the drink to his lips, he couldn't help but notice the small change in Lisanna's facial features even if it was only for a moment. He knew what the young girl had gone through and even though she put on a brave face while in the presence of those around her the thought of her missing friend was always looking in the back of her mind. That had been a dark day for the guild yet from it a new light had been born with the guild taking his way of life to heart. Even so, Lisanna had never given up hope of finding him since his body was never found. That was something that Makarov admired about the Take-Over mage, her burning determination to keep pursuing her dream. Lifting his drink once more to his lips, he prayed that someday her dream would be fulfilled.

"So Mira, it's Erza's turn to go on a mission now isn't it," said Makarov trying to change the direction of the conversation.

"Yea, although she might not go for a while, she seems to want to train Lucy a bit before she takes off again, they're even off on a run right now," said Mirajane. From nearby, the statement was heard by a shirtless mage whose ear picked up ever so slightly.

"Ho, that is interesting, I wonder what Erza has planned for the new girl," said Makarov curiously, not spotting Gray get up from where he was sitting and making his way slowly towards the door.

...

Lucy collapsed to her hands and knees, this training regime too much for her to handle...and they hadn't even gotten halfway through the jogging stage. "I guess twenty miles was too much to ask on the first day," said Erza trying not to sound disappointed.

"I'm sorry," said Lucy. Having been brought up under her father's ruling, exercise was not one of her strong points although from her dismal effort thus far she hoped that she could get better soon.

"No it's alright Lucy, I promise that I'll help you get stronger," said Erza as she knelt by where Lucy was panting. Then to Lucy the most unexpected thing happened as she felt Erza's arms wrap around her shoulders, embracing her in a hug as tears began to swell in her eyes. "I will make you stronger, I never want to lose anybody again," she said struggling to keep herself from crying. Meanwhile Lucy had no real clue what to do in this situation, unsure why Erza had chosen her of all people to break down in front of. She realised that behind the armour that Erza wore, she was really protecting something deep inside herself, yet she would not make that comment as she licked her limbs attached to her body. This whole concept was something new to her, unaware if to whether or not Erza had done this with all the guild members or had just been holding it in for so long that she just needed to release her emotions all in a single moment.

Lucy's attention was diverted however as she saw a figure walking behind Erza heading towards Magnolia. Their body was covered completely in clothes that hid their appearance so that only their eyes could be seen while a number of staffs were slung across their back. Twisting their head, they saw Lucy looking at them, unable to form words on her lips at the sight before her. Yet his attention was not towards the celestial wizard but rather the scarlet haired woman embracing her. Hidden beneath their mask, a smile graced his lips before he vanished into mist which only caused Lucy's eyes to widen in shock.

"Lucy, are you alright?" asked Erza as she snapped back to her regular demeanour, noticing the gaping expression on Lucy's face.

"I have no idea," said Lucy unsure of what had just occurred.

"I'm going to have to ask you not to tell anybody of what happened just now," said Erza, her features sharpening which only made the situation look even more serious.

"Yes mam," said Lucy shaking in fear.

"Thank you, one of the guild members who I look up to once told me that baring everything upon one's chest will only lead to self destruction," said Erza, remembering the day she had been told that. "I still struggle to express sadness from time to time so I still bottle it up from time to time."

"When was the last time you cried?" asked Lucy.

"About a year and a half ago," said Erza.

"That's a long time," analysed Lucy. "Who told you about emotional self destruction?"

"A member of the ten wizard saints, a person with the same rank as master," said Erza.

"We have somebody that powerful in the guild?" asked Lucy wondering why she had never read about such a thing in any of the magazines she had looked at.

"She spends most her time on missions and is rarely around the guild," explained Erza. "Of the few S-class mages in the guild, she is undoubtedly in the running to become the next guild master when Master chooses to retire."

"That's amazing," said Lucy. "Do you know when I'll be able to meet her?"

"Not sure, I was on my own mission when she left for her most recent one; I'm not even sure where she went."

"She went to Joya," stated a male voice nearby which got Erza immediate attention as she ripped around to see Gray standing there, for once with a shirt on his body.

"Gray," said Erza surprised to see the ice-mage standing there. Lucy got to her feet and looked at the mage before her, unsure why he had come here in the first place. Of all the people in the guild, this was the one mage who had seemed most cold towards her.

"Erza, there's something I need you to help me with," said Gray coldly, his eyes sharp and focused on the task at hand. Erza meanwhile stiffened, knowing full well that Gray never asked anybody for anything, determined to do things his own way every time. Back when he was younger, he was always bickering and picking a fight with Erza along with a couple other of the younger guild members but that had stopped a while ago. Since then he rose in power exponentially, determined to become stronger in order to prevent tragedies like the one that befell the guild from ever happening again. Yet with his determination to grow in strength, he lost a lot of communication with the other guild members and rarely talked to anybody unless it was of the utmost importance. To actually have him come forward like this, undoubtedly this was something serious.

"What do you want help with?" asked Erza.

"I need to know," said Gray as he slammed his fist into his open palm, channelling magic, "Just what the difference in strength between us is!" A primal scream escaped his lips as he pushed his hands forward, lances of ice piercing fiercely forward. While Erza was able to easily block and evade a number of them, a few got past her defence and headed straight towards Lucy who leapt out of the way in fear.

"Why am I getting caught up in this!" screamed Lucy wondering if joining a guild as crazy as Fairy Tail was the right decision.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Kakarot Son: I can't really play around with the Celestial Spirits much as that doesn't really link back to what caused this change of events.**

**Yuriski-1****st****: Thank you for the feedback, it was most enjoyable to look over. As for whether or not I'll get bored with canon...only time will tell.**

**KiraWani: Cancer is staying the same, as are all the other spirits...sorry.**

**Sukazu's: Not sure yet, haven't really decided on a fundamental team and who will be on it but I'm working on the advantages and disadvantages of every possible combination at the moment.**

**Peace out and please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

"She still isn't back," groaned Lisanna as she looked at the sour mood that Gray was in, his gaze firmly set out the nearby window. Lucy turned her head towards him momentarily but all she could recall of him was the relentless battle that had taken place nearly a week prior. Lucy had only been able to watch the battle in paralysed fear at the display as the land around her became a desolate wasteland of uprooted trees and frozen horrors. Discussing it with Lisanna however helped Lucy understand that this was what Erza and Gray did on a monthly basis, for what reason she didn't know, nor did she want to enquire into it.

There were several things she didn't understand about that day, part of her believing that the exhaustion she was in put her in a bit of a disoriented mood. It had been two days afterwards when she had confronted Makarov about the man she had seen wandering through the forest. Apparently it had been another 'S' ranked member of Fairy Tail, a staff wielding wizard called Mystogan. Upon further enquiry into the other 'S' ranked members of the guild, she had witnessed her first sight of Laxus, the grandson of Makarov.

She didn't truly know much about him, having only ever gotten small glances of him as he came in to grab work before heading off again. From his frame she had assumed that he had a vicious tendency about him, but she believed like many members of the guild he seemed to be hiding some emotion away. Looking around the guild now, she could see in a number of eyes the same sense of hiding, as if they never wanted to open old wounds again.

"Hey Lucy, how's your Requip training going?" asked Happy who was sitting on the table.

"Well it's not so draining on my magical energy anymore," said Lucy with a smile. "I actually managed to get my clothes back the other day, but in exchange the clothes I had been wearing are now almost inaccessible."

"Why don't you try and switch clothes now?" asked Mirajane from nearby as she placed a couple of cold drinks onto the table.

"No," declared Lucy as she shook her head from side to side. "What if it went wrong? Losing my clothes in front of Shadow Gear was one thing, but in front of the entire guild!"

"Alright, alright, just keep practising in your own time," said Lisanna with a slight chuckle. "Just remember, when Erza gets back from her mission it'll be your problem to deal with, not mine."

Lucy shivered at the thought of what Erza would do to her if the scarlet haired woman realised that the celestial wizard had been slacking off in her training. "You know what you guys, I might go train for a bit," said Lucy as she got to her feet.

"See you tomorrow," said Mirajane cheerfully as she continued on her way. Lucy smiled as she waved goodbye to several members of the guild before heading out the door. Squinting slightly from the light seeping over the top of the houses, she assumed that there was roughly another hour before the sun fell. Yet before she could head off to Fairy Hills, a firm hand grasped her wrist making her jump in shock as she whipped her head across to find that it had been Gray who had startled her.

For a single moment she wanted to yell at this guy for being so rude yet recalled the devastation he had caused with the battle with Erza and wisely kept her mouth shut. "Walk with me," he commanded, Lucy quickly accepting under fear of what would happen if she disagreed.

To anybody watching the pair, it was a common interpretation for the two of them to be on a date, yet to Lucy it felt everything but a romantic setting. They finally came to rest in the centre of a park, a tall tree swaying gently with the breeze. Gray had his back to Lucy and she couldn't help but be curious as to what he was planning. Slowly he turned around and only now did Lucy realise that somewhere along the journey his shirt had been stripped off.

"I'm sorry," he said which caused Lucy to take a complete revolution on what she thought was going on. "I apologize for the way I acted that day when you were with Erza."

"That's...okay..." said Lucy unsure of what a proper response would be.

"I've just been a little on edge lately, and I'm sorry for your first impression of me to be like this," said Gray, his tone slowly becoming more apologetic.

"It's fine, really," said Lucy trying to make no big deal out of it.

"I'm glad you feel that way," said Gray as his tone became more casual, placing his hands behind his head. "I've wanted to confront you about this for days now but I just never felt that the time was right."

"Wait...have you been acting coldly these last few days, not just to me but to everyone, was just because you were unsure about how to say sorry to me?" questioned Lucy putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"When you break it down I guess you could say that," said Gray as he turned his attention to the leaves in the tree. "As a peace offering word of advice, if you want to continue working on your Requip magic, why don't you just try and make something out of the ordinary which you don't necessarily need on a day to day basis vanish, like a snorkel or something."

"A snorkel, like to breathe underwater?" questioned Lucy.

"C'mon, I'll buy you a half decent one," offered Gray as he gestured to a nearby market street. "There are magic infused snorkels which store air allowing you to breathe underwater for a couple of minutes like normal." As Lucy followed Gray, she began to realise that the ice wizard wasn't really a bad guy; she had just caught him in a really shitty mood.

...

Midnight seemed to come and go as Lucy continued to try and get her spell to work, desperately trying to get the concept of the headgear to vanish. Like how the dagger had been in her hand and reappeared in her hand, the same concept applied in that she needed to channel the Requip magic through her head where she wore the snorkel and mask. Before having started, she had ensured that the door to her room was bolted shut as well as keeping the window blinds closed, knowing that she looked completely foolish sitting in the centre of her room with only her pyjamas and a diving mask on.

"C'mon," she said through the snorkel, her voice coming out of the other end in a raspy tone. "You know the theory, you have the magical ability. You can make clothes appear and disappear off your body by harnessing your magic, if you can't do this then Erza's going to kill you."

The last part of her comment seemed to do the trick as the diving mask and snorkel shone brightly before vanishing into Lucy's personal realm. "YES!" she screamed in joy before covering her mouth, realising that a number of the other occupants were likely asleep at that moment. Celebrating in silence, she slammed the blinds open only for her world to come crashing down around her as she saw nearly a dozen metal pillars of great size protruding from a nearly destroyed guild hall.

Ignoring the fact that she was only in her pyjamas, she ran to her door and unbolted it, nearly tearing it off the hinges as she swung it open before yelling at the top of her voice, alerting everyone of the damage that had been done.

...

The following day had been a dreary one for all, as they came to grips with the damage that had befallen the guild. Hardly a cheerful word had been spoken the entire day and even the following night had been met with little cheer. Lucy had contemplated taking a job and simply escaping Magnolia for a little while but her confidence on going on a solo job wasn't high, especially when there was somebody nearby with the strength to nearly destroy the guild hall.

Yet what they had found the day after was much more devastating than a mangled guild hall. Lucy had been one of the last members of the guild to arrive in the park that day, having hardly felt the desire to get out of bed to look out her window and see her second home in ruins. Pushing past the crowd of civilians she heard frightened murmurs spread from citizen to citizen. Getting to where the other Fairy Tail wizards stood, she had found the guild members either in shock, anger, horror or a mix of the three emotions as they gazed at the tree, looking at three of their own members tied to the tree unconscious and badly beaten.

"Levy-chan!" screamed Lucy as she saw her friend dangling in the air, the insignia for Phantom Lord painted on her chest. While there had been rumors of who would have conducted such a crime to the guild before, this only proved hypothesises correct. For years Phantom Lord had been competing with Fairy Tail for the position as the highest ranked guild in Fiore and it seemed that now if they couldn't get it done the legal way they would go about it in their own dirty way.

"They will pay," said Mirajane as she clenched her fist, her nails driving into her skin as Lucy witnessed the 'S' class mage become more serious than she could ever imagine. Her white hair began to float around her as she began to channel magical energy through her body. It was only with the gentle grasp of Lisanna that caused her to calm down for the moment as Elfman's eyes never left his comrades in the tree.

The crowd parted almost majestically as the small frame of Makarov walked towards the tree, his eyes carrying sorrow as he looked upon the members of his guild he cared about as if they were his own children. "Master..." said Lisanna softly, bottling up her own rage at the incident that had occurred.

"I can stand being reduced to a run down beer hall in a basement," declared Makarov, his voice trembling with rage. "But no parent can stand idly by while the blood of his children is spilt!" An instant passed where the grip on his staff tightened before the wooden pole shattered in his hand, splinters raining upon the grass below. Lucy couldn't help but wince slightly as she saw another side to the leader of Fairy Tail, one she had never seen before.

"TO WAR!" declared Makarov as magical energy radiated around him, the fellow guild members standing nearby unleashing their anger in the form of a rage filled war cry. As one the guild marched forward, the crowd parting widely as Fairy Tail marched forward, intent on finishing the war which had begun.

"Lucy, take care of them," said Elfman, holding the limp forms of Jet and Droy while Levy rested by his feet. The celestial wizard had no clue as to how their bodies had been taken from the tree but chose not to question it as she nodded in acceptance, agreeing to the responsibilities bestowed upon her. With the help of nearby citizens, she watched as team Shadow Gear was carried to hospital and placed under immediate medical attention, Lucy standing protectively by their side all the while.

...

The Phantom Lord guild hall, a desolate building draped in darkness. Inside, the members of the guild laughed in the revelation that Fairy Tail had nearly been destroyed and that some of their members were incapable of lifting a single finger. Yet as three of the members walked towards the door with a job in hand, the last thing they had expected was the wall to explode inwards, a demon standing there as debris filled the air. A snarl escaped Mirajane's twisted lips as she looked at the guild before her as they seemingly cowered in fear of the purple clad Take Over wizard. Behind her however was a much more scary sight as nearly the entire guild of Fairy Tail stood in the sunlight, prepared to invade for the sake of their injured brethren.

A unified roar escaped the lips of the guild members as they charged forward, intent on bringing down a world of pain and suffering upon Phantom Lord.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Yuriski-1****st****: I've already considered both these quandaries and will deal with them in due time.**

'**Suikodengel' and 'Mirajane S and Erza S:' Joya's a place, sorry if this confused you.**

**Sukazu's: Sticking to the normal story is never my kind of style.**

**Jmr46718: Whoever said Deliora was stopped?**

**I'm sorry about the delay and further apologize for the next one. I will be without computer access for quite some time and as such be unable to continue writing for a while. Until next time.**

**Peace out.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

Lucy sat silently by Levy's side, a small desk in front of her as she scribbled down page after page of her story. Team Shadow Gear had quickly been patched up by local medics and all of them were on the road to recovery as bandages covered up the more damaged limbs.

Whilst on the mission they had taken together, Lucy had just learnt how much Levy loved reading yet was unable to write herself. Thus a promise had been made between the two that when Lucy's story was finished Levy would be the first one to read it. Looking out the window, the shining sun gave a direct contrast to the emotions she was currently feeling and a small part of her wished she could have gone with the other guild members to vent anger against Phantom Lord.

Of the two guilds she had been thinking of joining, while Fairy Tail was the first priority, Phantom had been the second but she had never known of such a rift between them. The members of Fairy Tail were more famous individually but Phantom Lord was well known for having a mass amount of members, nearly the highest amount of mages between all the guilds. Yet if they were dirty enough to attack three members of Fairy Tail in the middle of the night, Lucy believed she had made the right choice.

...

In the guild hall of Phantom Lord, carnage raged all around as the members of Phantom Lord tried to use their numbers to take down the invading Fairy Tail. Despite their numbers however they were quickly losing ground as the members of Fairy Tail fought with courageously against the odds.

"Purple Net," casted Macao as purple flames were conjured from his fingers, quickly spreading forth and latching onto a number of enemies, hoisting them high into the air where they were unable to do anything. "Now Wakaba!"

Standing beside him, Wakaba with his hands still hidden inside his pockets, understood the command and channelled his own magical energy. "Smoke Crush" he said as a magical circle appeared around his pipe before smoke burst forth in the shape of fists, colliding with the bound mages of Phantom Lord.

Nearby, Alzack watched patiently as dozens of enemies pressed forward. Pulling his pistol out of it's holster, he twirled it several times before bringing it to his chest. "Guns Magic: Spark Shot," he stated as small electrical bullets flew forth and struck the Phantom Lord guild members, sending hundreds of volts of electricity through their system. Twisting on his feet, he whipped around and fired another round at a man who had been trying to sneak up on him from behind.

"Aww, here I was thinking I'd have the chance to save you," whined Bisca who had located herself on top of a statue where she picked off enemies one by one, protecting her allies blind spots. Her keen eyes didn't miss a beat as she fired another shot, taking out an enemy who had been trying to strike at Lisanna from behind.

"Take Over: Rhino Soul," she cast as she channelled her magical abilities. Her form quickly changed into a full body take over as she began running along the ground on four heavy feet. Her leathery hide protected her bulky body as she charged forward, the horn at the front of her head striking knocking enemies in all directions.

Mixing colours upon his pallet, Reedus went to working painting animals on his stomach, channelling his magic so that his creations burst forth and knocked attackers back several yards. Seeing a number of enemies run towards her Laki slammed her hands into one another much like Gray did, yet her creation magic was of a different sort. "Wood Make: The Dam of Shy Love!" With her spell cast, wooden structures burst forth from the ground but in a complete twist from the title of the spell, the objects that had appeared took the shape of workshop tools ranging from drills to saws.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" questioned an enemy in confusion but he received no answer as he took a vicious punch from the jaw from Elfman who had channelled his magical energy into his arm, causing concrete blocks to cover it making the force of his punch that more brutal.

Gray watched from nearby, slowly realising that this battle had been too easy thus far. On the march, Makarov had given them all advice and tactics into how to battle against the enemy guild. They had also been warned of the 'S' ranked members that Phantom had, the Element Four and the Iron Dragon Slayer. Yet he had only seen grunts thus far and they had been weak enough that even Happy had taken out a number on his own.

Cana slipped her hand into the pouch she had been carrying, pulling three cards out as she looked at the oncoming wave of enemies. "Lightning, Reverse Tower, Lovers," she read like Tarot cards as she summoned her attack. Bursting from the three cards, lightning electrocuted away at a number of people. "Jolt of Fate!"

"How about some of this," shouted a member of Phantom Lord as he and a lackey beside him cast a fire spell and a wind spell consecutively, their teamwork causing a blazing jet of fire to strike at the heart of the guild members.

"Ice Make: Shield!" summoned Gray, creating a giant block of ice that protecting the guild members from the intense flames. The members of Fairy Tail were huddled around one another, their morale high as Makarov pressed forward, knocking men from side to side with little effort as he made his way to confront the leader of Phantom Lord, Master Jose. With a burst of magical energy, the door leading upstairs blew apart, allowing Makarov entry to the stairwell.

Mirajane watched from above as she rained powerful balls of magical energy down upon groups of enemies below her. Her tactic was working effectively as dozens of attackers sent their magical energy skyward and hence distracted them from attacks that came to them from the ground. Yet her reactions caught on a little too slowly as she whipped around, only to catch an iron pillar to the chest with the strength behind it crushing her against the guild wall.

"It's time I had some fun as well," cackled Gajeel as he retracted the metallic pillar, the solid object reverting into his hand in moments. Pushing off the wooden board he had been watching from, he cascaded towards the Fairy Tail members.

"Man, Man, if you're a Man you're a Man!" shouted Elfman as he tore away at members of Phantom Lord all around him. The last place he expected to be attacked from however was skyward as Gajeel's boot slammed into his face, knocking him several metres back.

"You bastard, how dare you hurt Levy!" shouted Nab as he tried to strike at Gajeel from behind but failed to get close as Gajeel's arm extended in pillar form, blowing Nab away with little difficulty.

"Nab," screamed Lisanna before the body of her ally slammed into her side, knocking both of them around.

"Man!" shouted Elfman as he quickly recovered from the attack, as his arm transformed into a reptilian form whilst he punched towards Gajeel.

"Elfman, huh," said Gajeel as he blocked the attack as if it was nothing, sending a pillar of iron at Elfman's head which he swiftly dodged before he grabbed at the second pillar which had extended from Gajeel's foot. "Not bad," muttered the Dragon Slayer.

"A man must be strong," declared Elfman unfazed.

"How can he be strong if he's only got power behind one single hand," chuckled Gajeel as he punched forth, a pillar extending forth and connecting with Elfman's cheek. As he was knocked back however, before he could connect with any other members of Fairy Tail a demon swooped from the air and grabbed him with little trouble.

"Nee-chan," said Elfman reeling slightly.

"Rest now," commanded Mirajane as she turned her attention to the Iron Dragon Slayer. With a single flap of her wings she had covered the distance between them in an instant as Gajeel's eyes went wide before a fist slammed into his nose, blowing him back through the guild bar.

Knocking the scrap away from his body, Gajeel couldn't smirk in anticipation of the fight ahead. The attack he had just taken had been more powerful than he had imagined, yet he was sure that was just a welcoming tap compared to what was about to come. "You're mine," said Mirajane confidently as Gajeel struck forth, sending a metallic pillar at the demon before him. Mirajane's fist rocketed forward and collided with the metal without even flinching. Before Gajeel even had the chance to retract his arm, Mirajane's foot had collided with his chest as he was knocked through the wall.

All around the guild however, the walls began to shake and crumble, causing the members of Phantom Lord to panic all of them unsure of what was happening. The members of Fairy Tail however could only smirk as they realised that their Master had just gotten serious.

...

With every step he took, more magical energy radiated outwards, shattering both windows and walls alike. The power that Makarov was wielding was what made him one of the most feared wizards in Fiore. From outside the guild it would have looked like the guild would crumble at any second.

Standing before the door to the guild master's room, it had little chance as it blew apart as Makarov's energy radiated forth. From his place in the room, Jose smirked as he watched the guild shatter around him, knowing that his plan had worked. "Jose!" said Makarov in a powerful tone, one that would make his enemies weep in their sleep. "What is the meaning of this?"

"It's been a while Makarov-san," said Jose calmly. "Not since your recruit was enlisted to join our ranks. I'm afraid I made a fool of myself then but believe me when I say that I still believe that woman should not be a member of the Ten Wizard Saints."

Makarov said nothing in response as his fist enlarged and shot forth, smashing the throne Jose had been sitting upon. "I did not come here to chat Jose," said Makarov as his fist retracted, the dust and debris showing that the Jose sitting before him was nothing more than a thought projection. "You ran away you coward."

"A battle between two of the Ten Wizard Saints would surely cause a cataclysm," said Jose calmly, knowing he was safe in his location. "I would prefer a simple, sensible victory. At this moment I have sent two of my most highly regarded wizards to catch one Lucy Heartfilia."

"Lucy, why?" said Makarov, his voice becoming more concerned with his guild member's safety.

"I guess you truly don't know just who Lucy Heartfilia-sama is," said Jose cheekily as he twisted magical power into his hand. "When she gets here though..." he said threateningly.

"Don't you dare!" shouted Makarov. His concern for Lucy however was his downfall as behind him, a tall man clad in a purple trimmed cloak. With his full attention upon Jose, Makarov hadn't sensed the man's presence until it had been too late.

"The sadness!" he shouted before he cast his spell, instantly tearing the magical power away from Makarov, causing his body to tumble to the ground below. Amongst the fighting squabble, several turned as they heard the sound of destruction nearby to find that Makarov was light green in colour with hardly the strength left to talk.

"Gramps!" shouted Gray as he saw the state his grandfather figure was in.

From an unknown destination, Jose smiled at the fact his plan had worked near to perfection, with Aria's nullifying magic having done it's duty. Yet there was still one piece of the puzzle left and he had a feeling it was going to be played very shortly.

All around, the morality of the Fairy Tail members plummeted from having watched their leader collapse in front of them. "Master!" shouted Lisanna. "Animal Soul: Phoenix!" In a burst of red flames, Lisanna flew up into the air towards where the master lay, but from nearby a calm smirk spread forth as one wizard who had been sitting in the wings the entire time became a part of the battle.

...

Walking through the street, Lucy carried with her a bag of groceries, having left Team Shadow Gear in the care of the nurses momentarily to ensure that she wouldn't go hungry tonight. "I wonder how everybody's doing?" she mused before rain started to fall. "A sunshower?"

It was at that moment that Lucy realised she wasn't the only one walking down this back alleyway, a woman wearing a blue coat was walking towards her, chanting under her breath, "Drip, Drip, Drop." Needless to say Lucy was slightly freaked out by this.

"Yes, Juvia is the rain woman, drip, drip, drop," she said presenting herself. "Who are you?" Yet before Lucy could give an answer, Juvia walked on past and opened up an umbrella. "It was a pleasure, fare thee well."

"What the heck!" shouted Lucy slightly ticked off at the self proclaimed "rain woman."

"Non, non, non," said another voice from nearby, a man slowly appearing out of the ground. "Non, non, non. Non, non, non, non, non, non, non. With a non of three, three and seven I say to you bonjour."

"Why am I always surrounded by weirdos," complained Lucy.

"Juvia-sama, you must remember why we are here," stated the man.

"Monsieur Sol," said Juvia, having recognised the strange man.

"My monocle whispers to me, telling me that this mademoiselle is our beloved cible," said Monsieur Sol.

"Cible, target?" said Lucy translating the word. "Juvia and Sol, I recognise those names, you're from Phantom's Element Four!"

"Oh, it seems mademoiselle Lucy has heard of us," said Sol impressed. "Indeed I am Sol of the Earth and this is Juvia of the Deep."

"I will get you back for what you have done to Levy-chan!" shouted Lucy as she reached for her celestial spirit keys, yet before she could summon a single spirit a sphere of water trapped her in place.

"Non, non, non," said Sol as he adjusted the monocle upon his eye. "Destroying your guild and attacking Levy-sama was the work of Gajeel-sama!"

"What is this?" questioned Lucy as she started to lose her breath. "Let me go!"

"Juvia's Water Lock cannot be broken," stated Juvia as she continued to keep her spell in effect.

With the last of her oxygen leaving her system, Lucy's eyes slowly began to close as she struggled to remain conscious. Yet her thoughts quickly raced and she began to channel her magical energy, realising there was one thing left that she could do in this conundrum.

"Non, non, non, this is totally unexpected," said Sol as he watched the development take place. Inside the water sphere, Lucy had been able to take a massive gulp of fresh air from the magical snorkel she had requiped.

"It matters not, Juvia can wait all day long if needs," said Juvia, maintaining her control over the sphere of water. Inside her watery prison, Lucy knew that she had only bought herself borrowed time at best, recalling that when Gray had purchased the snorkel for her the previous day the owner had explained that it contained no more than two minutes worth of oxygen.

With the water density around her, Lucy reached for her keys but stopped halfway as she peered through the water, noticing a new person entering the fray. The way they walked was purposeful and more details came forth the closer they got to where Lucy was suspended, one such detail like the fact one of her legs was missing and a small wooden mechanical limb was in its place. "What would two members of Phantom Lord have here and with a member of Fairy Tail?" questioned the newcomer, unfazed by the number disadvantage.

"Juvia feels compelled to ask who you might be?" asked Juvia, turning her head towards the intruder.

"I'm somebody who will beat you unless you decide to let that girl go," said the new person, running her fingers through short dark purple hair.

"Non, non, non, if you believe you carry the strength to tackle two members of the Element Four," said Sol as he concentrated his magical energy, creating a large fist comprised of solid stone. It didn't even make the target however as a shield made of pure ice blocked the blow, the creation of which had been so fast that neither Sol nor Juvia had noticed the magical energy.

"Water Slicer!" said Juvia as she sent a highly pressurised stream of water forward, only for the other person to dodge with minimal effort. The force of the water however was enough to blow a patch of wind forward that shook the jacket the purple haired woman was wearing, revealing an insignia that was shared by both Master Jose and Master Makarov.

"Th-This mademoiselle!" stuttered Sol, recognising the seal as that of one of the Ten Wizard Saints. "Juvia-sama, we must retreat!" Juvia looked flustered for a second before releasing her water lock, using her magic to create a shroud of mist that allowed the two of them to escape.

Lucy, now unbound, took the snorkel out of her mouth and coughed violently as she relished breathing in fresh air. "Are you okay?" asked the woman as she walked up to and then knealt down next to Lucy.

"I'm okay now," said Lucy gathering her wits. "Thank you for your help."

"We're members of Fairy Tail, we have to stick up for one another," said the woman with a smile.

"Who are you?" questioned Lucy, having never seen this woman around the guild before.

Standing upright, a smile graced the woman's lips as she helped Lucy to her feet. "My name's Ul, 'S' ranked member of Fairy Tail and member of the Ten Wizard Saints," introduced Ul causing Lucy's mouth to drop.

...

**Managed to conjure one more chapter before losing computer access. Hope you enjoyed.**

**Kaka:...I'll get back to you on all that.**

**If you want to check out more of my Fairy Tail work, there is a link on my profile page to a Fairy Tail Abridged series if you're interested.**

**Anyways...**

**Ja Ne.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Thank you...for saving me," said Lucy nervously as she tried to avoid eye contact with the mage sitting across the table from her. After having saved the young celestial wizard, Ul had taken her to her own house located near the river running through the centre of Magnolia. It was quite a pretty little place and Lucy was slightly envious that the price of the two story house per month was less than the rent she paid to stay in Fairy Hall.

A gentle breeze swept through the window of which Lucy could see Kardia Cathedral in the distance. A retro fireplace in the corner was boiling a kettle which caused Lucy to wonder why Ul didn't simply use the kitchen stove but chose not to question the member of the Ten Wizard Saints. "It was no problem," said Ul as she grasped the kettle with a single hand, how she didn't burn herself on the hot metal Lucy could only imagine. Gently she poured the hot water into Lucy's cup, the tea leaves inside instantly turning the liquid a green colour.

"Thank you," said Lucy as she picked up the cup and raised it to her lips, a satisfying sound escaping her lips as she savoured the taste.

"Your name was Lucy, right?" asked Ul which the blonde girl nodded in response. "I've been on a mission in Joya recently and took my time coming back, but when I went to the guild earlier I noticed that nobody was there. Did something happen while I was gone?"

Lucy averted her eyes from Ul, immediately making the older mage realise that something was out of the ordinary. For Lucy, she didn't know how to tell a member of the guild the horror that the rest of them had gone through. "Phantom attacked us," she said softly but she could see that her words had carried the distance between the two of them as Ul's grip on the kettle handle dramatically hardened. Yet before Lucy's eyes she became astonished as with the next exhale despite it being a warm day outside she could see her breath as if it was the middle of winter. Turning her attention to Ul for an explanation she could see that the kettle in her hand had actually frozen solid, ice encasing the entire metal structure.

"Tell me everything!"

...

Fear began to sweep through the frozen form of Lisanna, held high above the members of Fairy Tail still within her phoenix form. A handful of the guild members had seen Lisanna take to the sky and thought that the swing of the battle was once again going to swing in their direction. "Lisanna, what's wrong?" shouted out Elfman before blocking an oncoming attack despite the damage his body had taken.

"I...I can't move my body," said Lisanna struggling to do as much as open her mouth let alone fly across the room.

"Your powers are useless against the power of a member of the Element Four," said a man stepping out of the shadows. With light creeping over his hair it was clearly two toned to the maximum imaginable, half his hair was white while the other was jet black. Wearing an orange gi with a katana strapped to his side, he walked forward confidently.

"It's Totomaru!" shouted one of the members of Phantom Lord.

"A member of the Element Four," cursed Cana with several cards gripped tightly in her hand.

"You're doing this to me," cursed Lisanna watching Totomaru cast his magic upon her.

"All fire is mine to control," declared Totomaru as he started circling his hands, causing Lisanna's wings to flap several times. Lisanna's eyes went wide as small pelts of fire rained down upon her guild members below her.

"Take cover!" shouted Macao. Many of the members of Fairy Tail could do nothing to protect themselves from the fiery rain but were saved thanks to the quick thinking of Gray, the ice mage having created a dome of ice around his allies. Yet maintaining the spell was draining upon his magical ability as attacks pelted both the top of his protection as well as all around him as Phantom Lord tried to break their way through.

"I can't hold this for long," shouted Gray in frustration.

"We need a plan," said Cana as she reached for several more cards but was unsure just how many more spells she would be able to cast.

"Mirajane's off fighting Gajeel, we can't assume she'll be back in time to help us," said Wakaba.

"If we try to run, they'll chase us down," said Reedus getting slightly scared.

"And since we're the invaders they can use any force necessary," concluded Macao realising that the situation was a dark one.

"We have to make a retreat," declared Gray, still maintaining the shield. "I'll drop the shield and you guys make a run for the door. Once everybody's out, I'll seal the door with ice and we can escape."

"The amount of magic you have left Gray, the shield would last ten seconds at most," said Alzack knowing the strength of his friend.

"Then what do we do?" asked Laki. Nobody arose to the situation to give a solution, making the situation only bleaker until one man rose up.

"Let a man handle this."

...

"Please, make it stop," begged Lisanna, tears unable to fall from her eyes due to the intense heat. Over and over her wings beat ferociously, sending wave after wave of fire down at her friends beneath her. While Totomaru was able to control the fire of the phoenix, he was unable to control the length of time Lisanna was able to maintain her form and it wasn't long before she returned to her normal self falling to the floor beneath her with hardly any magical ability left.

"Lisanna!" shouted a voice, so distant yet so familiar. Opening her eyes ever so slowly, she swore that falling beside her she could see a distinct mop of pink hair and a bright smile which brought her so much warmth as she plummeted towards the ice dome beneath her. Reaching out her hand, she swore that she was almost able to feel his skin across her fingertips.

Yet the vision was torn to shreds however as her limp body was ripped from its drop, the demonic figure of Mirajane soaring past and picking her sister up at breakneck speeds. Mirajane's body slammed through the wall of the guild, protectively holding Lisanna in her arms ensuring that the younger sister felt no pain. Skidding across the ground to a halt, Mirajane looked at the unconscious form of Lisanna and cradled her like she had two years prior. With most of her magic expired, Mirajane reverted out of her Satan Soul back into her normal state, her magical energy all but gone. Yet it was clear in her eyes that all she cared about was the wellbeing of her sister and as she looked towards the guild she silently prayed that everybody else would come out of this alright.

...

Inside the guild, the onslaught upon the ice dome had subsided as many of people had witnessed a good portion of their wall get taken out by the demon which had confronted Gajeel. The members of Phantom Lord turned their attention towards the direction where Mirajane had burst from and couldn't help but wonder what state the Iron Dragon Slayer was in.

"Now!" shouted Gray as he dispatched the shield surrounding the members of Fairy Tail. In an instance all hell broke loose as every member that had been trapped only minutes before unleashed a torrent of spells at everybody around them. The brief distraction was costly for the members of Phantom as they were bombarded with a number of spells, blowing them backwards and allowing for Fairy Tail to make a break for the door. It took a dozen seconds for the members of Phantom Lord to regroup themselves and start firing at the backs of Fairy Tail.

While several attacks sped through the hole and burst out in the open, many more were blocked by a single individual who stood in the doorway, unafraid to put his body in the path of destruction. As the dust and debris faded, the attackers only were able to see the form of one man standing in their path, determination written over their face.

...

"Come on Mira, let's go," commanded Bisca as she helped the Take Over mage to her feet, Alzack tossing the resting form of Lisanna over his back in an impromptu piggyback. Mirajane had no argument to give as she was helped to her feet and began running with the rest of the Fairy Tail members.

Looking around, she could see that nearly every member who had fought bravely had some sort of battle wound to show for it ranging from burns to bruises, cuts to torn outfits. Yet as she scanned the group more and more, she noticed that there was somebody who wasn't among them.

"Where's Elfman?"

...

"Gajeel are you alright?" asked a member of Phantom Lord only to be backhanded into a corner by the Iron Dragon Slayer. While he would say that he was alright, he was far from it. The Demon Mirakane had merely toyed with him, made all of his attacks worthless and showed him that he had a long way to go before he could classify himself as a great wizard.

Yet that was all beside the point as he made his way to the central room. It took all of the energy he had remaining to be able to stand on two feet. Visibly shaken, he made his way to where the rest of his guild were waiting, a vast number of them unconscious on the ground. He paid them no attention however as he wondered why the members of the guild had not given chase. The answer came in the form of the first person he had confronted that day. Being bombarded by ever weakening magical attacks, Elfman stood in the way of Phantom proceeding onwards, defending those behind him as if willing to put his life on the line for his allies. Gajeel however was determined to put on the brave face and show that he was still the strongest member of Phantom Lord despite having stared hell in the face.

"You guys are pathetic if you can't even take out a single fly," he said chuckling along the way despite the agonizing pain he was in, nothing a decent meal of iron couldn't fix. Barging his way to where Elfman stood, he found that the member of Fairy Tail was practically on his last legs. Blood and burn marks covered his entire body, it was nearly a miracle that he could stand at all considering the damage done.

"You said," started Elfman, his voice showing the exhaustion he was feeling, "How a man could be strong with only one hand."

"Aw, you going to take over a foot now as well?" teased Gajeel earning a couple of chuckles from the other members of Phantom Lord around him. Elfman paid it no attention however as he began to channel magical energy around him, enough that even the ground around him began to shatter and rise in the air.

"The last time I did this, I caused the guild unbelievable grief," said Elfman, his memory causing a single tear to fall from his eye. "Now for the guild, I will sacrifice my magic, my body and my mind."

"Do you think you can do anything against this?" questioned Gajeel, knowing that Elfman would be walking to his death if he confronted the entire guild by himself.

"If these are the last words I say, as a man I will honour the friend I killed... 'I'm all fired up," said Elfman before he cast his full body take over.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Sereneskydragonslayer: Not quite, the Deliora situation will be explained soon.**

**Fried Chicken: I have to think of everything you mentioned and more, that is one of the reasons I enjoy writing this story so much. As for who will take on those enemies, time will tell.**

**Claire-starsword: While Elfman may not have the trauma of losing Lisanna, he does have a replacement trauma.**

**Gralu4ever: With a few of my mates at Team Dragon Star we kind of joked around a bit about Lucy getting together with Lisanna but at this moment I'm not going to create any romantic interest.**

**Peace out.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Keep attacking it!"

"Help me!"

"This is madness!"

Of the dozens of screams and pleas for help, only a few were able to be heard clearly as the Beast roared, the bulking form of mass not even paying attention to the pitiful attacks as it continued on it's rampage.

"Tetsuryū no Hōkō" shouted Gajeel before blowing a tornado of scrap metal towards the creature destroying the guild. It wasn't that he gave a damn about the guild ended up but rather he was worried about his own safety; if Mirajane had managed to do the extent of damage that she had, he could only fathom what ungodly strength Elfman possessed in such a form that he was too hesitant to break it out when the rest of his guild members were with him. Much to his fear, the attack bounced off of Elfman's body, hardly a scratch appearing on the monster. Sadly though it seemed to have gathered the Beast's attention and Gajeel could do nothing but put up a feeble block as a fist the size of his entire body crushed him into the ground below with unfathomable speed.

From his crater deep within the floor of the guild, Gajeel could only watch as the other members of Phantom Lord got swatted around like flies, his body unable to move from the damage it had taken today. Thinking back on it, he had always assumed that since both Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had a member of the Ten Wizard Saints as their guild master, that both would be relatively equal power wise and with the numbers in their favour there was no battle that Phantom Lord couldn't win. Defeat had always been a nonsensical theory, now however one man had the power to take on the entire guild by himself, and he wasn't even one of their 'S' class wizards. Was the difference in the two guilds that great that even a title such as 'S' class wasn't even worth a single foot soldier. No. Elfman was far beyond strength he had ever imagined about, yet there was mindlessness to him, Gajeel had noted when he had been struck that there was blankness in the creature's eyes, one that made him forget who was friend or foe, like all it knew was how to destroy.

It was this that made him an unstoppable force.

It was this that made Gajeel afraid.

...

"Who was that you were just talking to?" asked Lucy, looking at the back of Ul. Once the powerful mage had calmed down from what she had been told, she had headed straight towards a communication lacrima and made a call, to whom Lucy was unaware.

"I just sent our friends some help is all," said Ul as she took her seat, drinking at the cup of tea she had previously poured, not minding that the drink had gone cold.

"Okay then," said Lucy with a hint of uncertainty.

"Meanwhile, while the reinforcements do their thing, I have to ask you if you have any idea why Phantom Lord isn't specifically targeting Fairy Tail, but you?" asked Ul. "While it looks like a bit of guild vengeance, Phantom wouldn't send two of their strongest mages out of harm's way for them to make a casual strike from behind by attacking the one mage left behind."

"I'm not sure," said Lucy, understanding what Ul was saying but unsure of what feasible answer there would be. "They could just be trying to take us out one by one."

"No, if they wanted to do that they wouldn't have targeted someone like you, a relatively new mage to the guild wouldn't even be worth mounting on their trophy wall." For some reason Lucy felt slightly insulted by this statement but remained silent as Ul continued. "My guess is that they were after you specifically, it was just be sheer chance of luck that you had remained to look after the others, or alternatively they've been spying on us for a while."

"That's a scary thought," said Lucy nervously.

"Well the only way we're going to get an answer is when they retaliate."

"Retaliate!" exclaimed Lucy.

Ul sent the Celestial Wizard a cheeky smirk that sent shivers down Lucy's spine. "Trust me, with the reinforcements I sent, it won't be for a while."

...

The central base of Phantom Lord, could hardly be called a structure after what had happened to it. Elfman is his mindless fury had made the once formidable building look nothing more than a piece of rubble that had barely survived nature's harshest environment. Hardly a single soul stirred within the previously great confines, many of the guild members unable to move an inch with both their physical and magical power completely exerted. Even the two members of the Element Four had found their defeat at the hands of this monster, Aria especially when he had tried to use his magic to drain Elfman's power only to receive a punch that had not just sent him into, but through the opposite wall.

"Elfman stop it!" shouted the petite voice of Lisanna, catching the attention of the beast, the vicious creature turning around to confront whoever had decided to seek it's attention. Lisanna made no move to run either away or towards her brother, she only stood there with tears streaming down her eyes, desperately wanting her brother to come back to his senses. Yet Lisanna was only one of two people standing there, the rest of the guild far away now but it was this person who caused the last piece of understanding within Elfman's mind to prevent a swift beating towards the two people who dared confront him.

"Oi Elfman, get it together man so we can have a fight when we get back to Fairy Tail," said a pink haired boy in a cheeky tone, a white scarf wrapped around his neck as he wore a gold laced black vest. This was a face that had not been seen in two years by anybody within Fairy Tail but Elfman knew that face well as it was present within every nightmare he had had since that fateful day.

"Na...tsu..." stammered the grizzly voice of Elfman as he slowly regained his senses, his unfathomable size shrinking as he gained control of the Take-Over magic. With a swift bound he made the distance towards where the two of them stood within an instant, wrapping both Lisanna and the pink haired boy in a hug while still in his large form. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Elfman," said Mirajane, surprising him slightly as he watched the pink haired boy within his grasp fade from existence as Mirajane released her transformation magic, turning her back into her normal form. "We're happy we didn't lose you."

"I swore, never to use this form again," said Elfman as he released his grip on his sisters, looking at his oversized clawed hands.

"But you've gained control of it now, and Natsu would be upset if you wouldn't use this ability to protect us," said Lisanna smiling as she wiped away the tears from her eyes. Before Elfman could respond he dropped to his knees, his magical energy nearly depleted after such an exert on his abilities.

"We won't let you get away with this!" shouted a single member of Phantom Lord, causing the siblings to look towards the entrance to see that nearly two dozen people were walking towards them, all of them carrying some kind of battle wound, their pride the only thing pushing them forward. With Elfman out of his destructive form, they believed they had some manner of chance to exact some kind of revenge, even capture them and take them to Master Jose to dispose of as he pleased.

Even without any significant power in their bodies, both Mirajane and Lisanna stood in front of Elfman, willing to protect their brother from any damage after having gone through such a strenuous event. Yet the two of them knew that they wouldn't be able to fight with any magical power under the risk of pushing themselves to unconsciousness, but rather would be fighting with tooth and nail in one final stand against a vastly greater numbered enemy.

The battle however would never start.

A brilliant flash of light erupted in between where the two sides stood, causing all of them to look away and shield their eyes as thunder nearly burst several eardrums. "So these are the fools we've been fighting?" asked a menacing voice, his jacket swaying from side to side. From his position within the walls of the guild, Gajeel had managed to get to his feet and now looked at the latest person to join the fray, and for once was glad that he wasn't involved with this fight. If Mirajane had been able to do as much damage as she did, then he absolutely feared what this man could do to him on top of the damage he had already received.

"Get him!" shouted a lone member of Phantom Lord, sending a small ball of blue light at the new person, only for them to swat it away harmlessly, a small explosion appearing where the ball landed in an open field. Before the person could so much as fathom as to what had happened, a bolt of lightning rocketed forth and struck him in the chest, the vicious attack causing him to lose consciousness before he hit the ground.

"Any of you clowns want to experience that?" questioned Laxus, hatred riddled within his voice. When all of the small threats shook their head in response, a cruel smile appeared across his face. "Then flee."

And flee they did, running back as fast as their legs could take them back into the 'safety' of their guild hall. "Laxus," said Lisanna joyfully as she ran forward and hugged the lightning mage.

"How did you know where to find us?" asked Mirajane as she helped Elfman to his feet.

"Ul gave me a buzz, told me where to find you all but I take it that something must have happened to leave only you three here," said Laxus.

"Master's magical power was drained," stated Mirajane and for a split second unparalleled rage crossed Laxus' eyes as he planned to tear every member of Phantom Lord limb from limb.

"Laxus, calm down," said Lisanna, her peaceful voice having the desired effect as Laxus' rage subsided momentarily. "Master Jose won't take this lying down, he'll find some other way to take us on and we need to be ready when he does."

"Don't worry," said Laxus as he suddenly found himself looking forward to the upcoming battle. "Fairy Tail will be ready."

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**For those of you wondering whether or not Natsu is in Edolas: I'm not going to give out that much of a spoiler so soon.**

**German City: Haven't really looked into it, might give it a shot.**

**TenshikoIshida: Just because Lucy is learning requip magic doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to help her in any major situations. She's not going to be a weapons master like Erza, that would take years of hard training to so much as coming close to the being able to wield a sword with as well as she can.**

**Kaka: I kind of need the scene changes to keep everything going, otherwise a lot of things get left out in the open.**

**Peace.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

When the Strauss siblings and Laxus returned to the guild, the sight they saw was both one of pain and despair. Everybody carried an injury of some sort, yet they seemed ever so slightly grateful that they had gotten away with the damage they had caused. Two people were going around from mage to mage, changing towels on burns and bandaging up cuts to the best of their ability. "Lucy!" shouted Lisanna at the sight of her blond haired friend who looked towards the entrance at the sound of her name being called.

"Lisanna," she said joyfully as she placed two glasses of water on a nearby table for Alzack and Bisca before heading to where Lisanna stood, not noticing the awkward moment when both the gunslingers reached for the same glass and touched fingers momentarily only to look away in embarrassment. "I'm so glad to see that you're alright," she said giving the Take Over mage a hug.

"Looks like we're going to need more than a roll of bandages to get you fixed up," said the other temporary nurse as she looked at the battered body of Elfman. While he hadn't seemingly taken any damage while in his Beast form it was mostly due to the fact that he couldn't feel the attacks in such a form. Now however, it was clear that out of all the people who had participated in the battle it was he who had sustained the most damage.

"Take care of him Ul," said Laxus as he handed Elfman off to the fellow member of Fairy Tail. As Elfman was helped to a nearby bed, the lightning mage had a look at the surrounding area in search of his relative. "Hey blondie, where's Master?"

Lucy gave him a quick glare of dagger eyes but said nothing against the minor insult knowing that she held little power against such a competitor. "Master got taken into the woods for special treatment," she said, recalling the information she had been given earlier.

"Good, that's probably the safest place for gramps," said Laxus as he made his way deeper into the room, looking for some way to help out as Lucy just stood there stunned momentarily.

"Are you okay Lucy?" asked Mirajane who was the only one standing by her side as Lisanna went to check on her friends.

"What did Laxus mean when he said 'gramps?'" asked Lucy.

"Laxus is the master's grandson," explained Mirajane, the resolution of which took several seconds before the information truly sunk in and the hall was filled with Lucy's shriek of horror.

...

"Alright, I've been in contact with Erza, she'll do her best to get here as quickly as she can," said Lisanna as she joined the group, having gone off to make the call in the corner of the room.

"Alright, we need to make a battle plan while we wait for her to get here," stated Ul as the semi recovered members of the guild stood around a large table.

"Are we going to go attack them again?" asked Macao.

"I'll be sure to bring explosive lacrima this time!" claimed Wakaba intending on doing some serious damage this time round.

"No, our plan won't be based on how we're going to attack but rather how we're going to counterattack when they come for us," explained Ul which resulted in a mixed reaction as people became frightened by the prospect of being attacked so soon.

"Why would they attack us?" asked Cana.

"As far as I can tell, Jose has had it in for Fairy Tail for as long as I can remember," explained Ul. "At my inauguration for becoming a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, he tried to provoke a war right there but thanks to Master the situation was calmed down before anything drastic happened."

"What happened?" asked Loke.

"He poisoned me," said Laxus which startled a number of people immensely. "Gramps took me to the ceremony saying that in ten or so years it would be me standing in front of the council and getting such an honour. At the time I considered it a mere dream and still do to some extent. Yet Jose was there and while we were watching the ceremony he slipped a deadly poison into my drink. Thankfully due to their being several medics nearby my life was saved and while a number of people believed it was Jose, nobody had any evidence to back up their claim."

"He would go that low," growled Grey as he clenched his fist angrily.

"There's another reason why he might strike but it's not important," said Ul shooting a brief glance at Lucy who was sitting on a nearby barrel. During the conversation they had had earlier, they had managed to deduce that Lucy was the target but for what purpose they were unsure. Turning her attention back to the map that lay upon the table she pointed out several key areas. "It's not likely that they will storm the town, but we can't rule that out as an option. If so we're going to need holder-type wizards to make vantage points here and here."

"I see," said Wakaba, "You want to lead them down this path for an ambush."

"If we weren't facing an enemy whose number could be dozens of times larger then us, that would be the simple solution," stated Ul. "It all depends on how many of his members Jose rallies for his cause. If he attacks with everything at his disposal then we're going to need a divide and conquer strategy, breaking up larger groups and sending them out of the way until we are ready to face them."

"Before that though," said Laxus as he turned his attention to a number of guild members with broken arms and other battle wounds that would keep them out of the upcoming battle, "Anybody who cannot fight, head to the safe house down in the eastern suburbs."

"We can still fight!" proclaimed Nab despite having his left arm in a sling, having received a fracture during the previous fight.

"No, not only would you endanger yourselves further but you would also endanger us," stated Ul. "While I admire your courage, we would have to have one eye on the battle and one eye on you lot to make sure you're safe. Also to be on the safe side I want Reedus, Lucy and Loke to guard you guys in case information about where all you guys are hiding gets leaked out."

"Understood," said Reedus calmly as those who couldn't participate in the fight prepared to head towards the safe shelter. Lucy looked like she wanted to protest but then quickly understood what Ul was getting at in that she would be safest away from the main battle considering she was potentially the final goal.

"Why are we leaving now? It could be days before Phantom strike," exclaimed Nab.

"He'll want to kick us when we are down," said Laxus. "He won't give us time to recover, especially if he doesn't want Gramps to enter the equation."

"So we need to start planning now otherwise..." started Ul but she was cut off as the ground shook violently causing several people to fall to their knees.

"What was that!" exclaimed Grey.

"Everyone, outside!" shouted Alzack as he stood at the entrance to the beer hall. It didn't take long for all the members of Fairy Tail to evacuate the beer hall and look out towards the ocean only for their jaws to drop in fear. Before them atop the waves stood a castle walking atop eight mechanical limbs clawing it's way ever close to where the members of Fairy Tail stood.

"So this is how they attack us," said Mirajane as her features became more focused on the task at hand.

"Everybody who can't fight, get to the safe house now!" shouted Ul, the guild members in question not needing to be told twice as they made a mad rush away from the immediate threat. Ul then turned to the trio she had assigned to look after the wounded, "You three are not allowed anything to happen to them, got that?"

"Understood," said Loke, for once not finishing the statement with a declaration of beauty. Reedus quickly painted a picture of a boar and wagon on his chest, the image bursting to life moments later. With the help of Loke, those who were unable to make the journey themselves were loaded onto the back of the wagon, the most noticeable one being Elfman.

"I'm sorry I can't be a man in this battle," he said solemnly before Laxus put a hand on his bandaged shoulder lightly.

"There will be another time, remember we got the festival to look forward to soon," said Laxus with a smirk. "I'm sure you can show just how much of a man you are in that contest."

"Let's go," said Reedus as he cracked the reins on the boar, the purple pig responding instantly as it darted forward through the streets. Looking away from the retreating wagon, Laxus observed the building as it grinded to a halt.

"So the last plan of action went out the window, what now?" he asked Ul. Before Ul could answer however a panel of the building began to slide downwards, revealing a large cannon that extended towards Fairy Tail.

"Do they mean to blow up the whole town!" exclaimed Bisca frantically as magical energy began to concentrate inside the cannon.

"That's not just any cannon, that's the magical focusing cannon Jupiter," said Mirajane analysing the weapon before them.

"How does knowing what it's called going to help us?" asked Wakaba.

"Because the amount of magical energy needed to recharge such a weapon will give us the perfect time to counterattack," said Ul as she watched the magical energy grow larger in diameter.

"Why aren't you worried about the attack that's going to be coming at us right now!" exclaimed Happy.

"You think something like that scares me," said Ul with a comforting smirk as she looked over her shoulder while she walked forward in front of where the rest of the guild stood. "Once it's fired I reckon we have about ten minutes to get in there and stop it from firing again. We'll need a strike force to go in and stop it before going on and stopping Jose for good. The assault team will consist of myself, Laxus and Mirajane."

"All three 'S' class mages!" said Laki in disbelief.

"Hold it, I'm coming to," said Gray boldly. "I'm going to show you just what I can do."

"If you say so," said Ul with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Hey, I don't want to ruin the moment between the two of you but that thing is about to fire!" shouted Macao turning his attention back to the cannon. Not a second after he had raised the alarm did a beam of pure magical energy explode forth in their direction causing a number of people to shout out in fear. Ul however remained calm as she lowered a fist into her palm, magical energy beginning to concentrate around her.

"Ice Make: Wall!" she shouted as she cast her spell a split moment before the magical energy crashed into the newly formed defensive barrier. Standing nearly a hundred feet tall and a dozen feet in depth, the ruthless assault struggled to break past the barrier that had been conjured, Ul constantly reinforcing the structure whenever she felt the beam from Jupiter gain even the slightest ground. Eventually the attack came to a halt and vanished, causing the members of Fairy Tail to shout in joy.

Inside the Phantom headquarters, several of the wizards who were controlling the cannon could hear their master grumble under his breath. "So, you've gotten even stronger since we last met," said Jose with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "It doesn't matter, the result hasn't changed."

"Wow, you actually stopped it," said Lisanna in disbelief as the wall of ice shattered into nothingness.

"Lisanna, we're going to need your help to get Grey over there," said Ul. "Mira, are you fine to carry me?"

"Piece of cake," said Mirajane as she activated her Take Over magic, Lisanna doing the same as they both transformed.

"Race ya," teased Laxus as his body flashed brightly before he shot himself directly towards the nozzle of the cannon.

"Why you!" growled Mirajane as she grasped on to Ul arms and tossed her skywards before flying underneath the ice mage so that before Ul could begin her descent she had been caught in a piggyback position before they too flashed across the sky.

"Let's go," said Lisanna as she grasped Grey with her talons before taking to the sky. It didn't take them long to reach the entrance but by that stage the other three had already vanished to the depths within. "Give them hell," said Lisanna cheekily before taking off to assist with the defence.

"Maybe I should have asked if she wanted to join in," muttered Grey as he watched the retreating form of his friend. Realising there was no way to call back to her now, he merely shrugged his shoulders before sprinting down the nozzle of the cannon. It took him no more than twenty seconds to catch up to where his three compatriots were standing.

"We were wondering when you'd get here," said Laxus keeping his eyes focused ahead at the task at hand.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," said Grey with a small smirk adorning his features.

"Well you didn't miss any of the fun," said Mirajane as the four of them surveyed the challenge before them. Standing in the centre of the room was a large spherical lacrima, the purpose of which seemed relatively easy to understand. In between the four of them and the lacrima however stood a hundred able bodied Phantom Lord guild members, each of them knowing that if they failed to protect the lacrima the punishment they would receive would be much fiercer than anything the Fairy Tail mages could do.

"We have ten minutes before Jupiter is ready to fire again," analysed Ul observing the large clock in the background. "A hundred men between us and our goal."

A sense of fear ran through the spines of all of the enemy guild members as all four of the mages started channelling their magical energy, the presence of such a force was overwhelming and a slight smell of fresh urine was present in the air. "Shall we?" suggested Laxus and in a single moment the mages of Fairy Tail struck fast and hard.

The clock hadn't even counted another minute before the lacrima was destroyed.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Kokuja-Fafnir: I understand what you're saying with how people believe pairings are a necessity but that's what I like about Fairy Tail, they are literally one big family and as such pairings aren't really needed, in my opinion at least. There may be pairings later on in this story but we'll see as time goes.**

**Miroh: I'll see what I can do.**

**Nance-chan: All in good time.**

**Huggler: There was a time when I considered making this a yuri story and while I'm sure I would have gotten quite a bit of thanks and praise, I probably wouldn't have been able to keep it going on a decent wavelength.**

**Jekyll N Hyde: Oh. My. God. Another aussie is reading and reviewing my fic, glorious days!**

**Ultimate Black Ace:...thanks for such an in-depth review.**

**Until next time, peace out.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Alright, what's the plan now?" asked Laxus as he stood casually amongst dozens of fallen enemies, many of them twitching in agony as jolts of electricity still coursed through their veins.

"They wouldn't attack us with only this as their weapon," said Mirajane as she held up a chunk of the lacrima they had destroyed whilst being seated atop a mountain of bodies she had personally seen to.

"I reckon it'll have something to do with the Element Four," said Ul.

"Why do you say that?" asked Gray wondering what his teacher was getting at.

"When the four elements, fire, earth, wind and water, are combined into one single spell they can cast Abyss Break," explained Ul.

"Abyss Break!" exclaimed Mirajane, recognising the name of the spell instantly. Before anybody could say anything Mirajane had vanished in an instant, a small trail of dust picking up from the path she had taken back through the nozzle of the now useless cannon.

"What's Abyss Break?" asked Gray, having never heard the title of the spell before.

"It's a forbidden magic..." started Ul but she had no time to continue as the very walls around her began to move and shift. Even though the three of them had had little warning of the sudden shift in movement they took to the change relatively easy and once it had come to a complete stop none of them had taken any damage whilst bodies flew all over the place except for a number that had been frozen to what had been the ground at the time.

"The hell was that?" questioned Laxus.

"Bad news guys," shouted Mirajane as she came rocketing in, bursting her way through a wall as her previous route in had been modified. "The building changed shape into a giant robot."

"That's the bad news?" questioned Gray.

"No, you were right Ul, it's casting Abyss Break," explained Mirajane.

"Shit then we don't have much time," said Ul.

"What's the plan, scatter, seek and destroy?" asked Laxus.

"No, Jose would have realised from the attack on his base earlier that they have nowhere near the firepower to match us with just his main men," analysed Ul. "Chances are that he'll be protecting them from us, keeping them nearby so that when we attack they have their full combined power to take us on."

"So where do we go then?" asked Mirajane.

"Up," said Ul as she looked towards the roof, Laxus getting the idea as lightning circulated around his wrist.

...

From the head of the robot, Jose watched as the apparitions he had summoned battle the members of Fairy Tail in front of their guild. A smirk crossed his face as he watched them struggle against one of his weaker spells in what would be the final fight before their doom. Standing nearby were the members of the Element Four, each of them preparing for the worst since they knew what was coming. When the lacrima had been destroyed their guild leader had gone into a momentary fit of rage before a sinister smirk spread across his face before instructing that the building be reformed into the robot it was now resembling.

The master of Phantom Lord had several options at his disposal as he turned to look at his strongest mages. Through a visual lacrima he had been able to witness the destruction that had befallen his men before the item too had been annihilated in the carnage. He knew that they would be coming for him eventually but he needed the strength that his wizards had in order for their mechanical robot to be able to cast Abyss Break. While he was confident enough to know that he would be able to take on his fellow member of the Ten Wizard Saints, he knew his own limitations and pondered whether or not he would be able to take all four of them on simultaneously while his wizards continued channelling their magical energy into the robot. Yet was he good enough to take on the four of them for a measly ten minutes while the spell finished, of course he was.

Before he could give the order for his subordinates to spread out, an explosion burst forth from nearby which caused several members of his guild to cover their eyes in fear. As the dust settled it revealed the four intruders from Fairy Tail, standing their menacingly as they prepared for battle. "Well well well, look at the fairies," said Jose as he quickly reassessed his plan. "The four of you truly believe you can simply waltz in here and take on Phantom?"

"We know we can," boasted Gray besides being the least threatening one there. While Jose merely chuckled off the thought of such a person even directly confronting him, one of his subordinates took it very differently as a blush crept across her face. Yet it went mostly unnoticed as the two teams eyed one another off. Ul however noticed that one of the most feared members of Phantom Lord was currently missing and somehow she doubted that with his reputation, Gajeel wouldn't be absent for just any reason.

"Shall we begin?" asked Jose as whisps of purple darkness began to flow from his fingertips. He didn't wait for any answer however as a dozen streams of magic burst forth forcing the Fairy Tail mages to take drastic manoeuvres in order to avoid a devastating attack. "Attack!"

The Element Four needed no further encouragement as they got to what they did best. Monsiuer Sol vanished into the ground as Aria and Totomaru combined their magical powers with one another, sending a torrent of fiery winde towards Ul, hoping to get the powerful mage while she was unaware. Yet it didn't hold any true ground as Ul created a barrier of ice that held against the attack, the member of the Wizard Saints never looking away from her counterpart.

"You guys take out the Element Four, leave Jose to me," said Ul as magical power began to radiate off of her. Gray looked at his mentor and swallowed nervously as he observed the power she was emitting and knew it was best not to get in her way when she was like this. Turning his attention forwards he found himself looking at the sole female of the enemy group, standing there awkwardly.

"My name...is Juvia of the waves," she said awkwardly as she struggled to keep eye contact with the ice mage. "If you so wish it, Juvia will stop lending her power to the robot right here and now."

"I don't believe you," said Gray boldly as he prepared to do battle with the blue haired woman.

"Then I shall leave, fare thee well," said Juvia as she turned around and walked away from Gray, leaving him highly confused about what had just happened. What was unknown to him from the angle of sight was that Juvia was tightly pressing her hand against her heart, the muscle beating at an abnormal rate. "What is wrong with Juvia?" she asked of nobody in particular.

"Oi, where do you think you're going?" asked Gray as he gave chase. Jose and Ul hadn't even started their match as they watched the awkward scene go between the two mages, Ul almost immediately understanding what was going on in the mind of her fellow female.

"This is classic," she said with a chuckle before turning her attention to more important things. "Let's not get in the way of them now shall we?"

"It takes two to tango after all," said Jose with a sinister smirk as he summoned forth a dozen shades to try and weaken Ul's magical ability. It had little effect however as she slammed her hands into the ground, causing a vast number of ice spikes to pierce out of the floor and spear through the spectres.

"Let's dance," she said as she prepared her next spell, Jose doing the same as both ignored the other battles raging around them. Laxus' keen eyes scanned all the walls around him, having taken it upon himself to target the one enemy that couldn't be seen.

"Non, non, non," came the voice of Monsieur Sol causing Lacus to turn around, only to see a giant stone fist rocketing towards him. With no time to react, he took the blast square to the chest causing dust to fire in all directions. "With a non of three I attack you from your blind spot, because there is no way that you can attack what you cannot see." With his message sent, Monsieur Sol once again vanished into the ground, waiting for another opportunity to strike when Laxus was unprepared.

"So you're in the ground," muttered Laxus as the dust cleared to reveal that he had taken very little damage from the attack. Lightning began circulating around his fist before he slammed his palm into the ground, sending an electrical pulse in a three hundred and sixty degree arc. With nowhere to hide, Monsieur Sol took the full brunt of the attack and while it wasn't designed to be excruciatingly painful, the pain was enough to send him out of the ground and into the open.

"You're mine," smirked Laxus as he flashed across the distance and grabbed Monsieur Sol's head before slamming it into the floor, sending another electrical charge directly into his body for good measure. "Piece of cake." Turning his head he saw that Mirajane was having some difficulty getting close to both Aria and Totomaru, the two utilising their magic to full effect.

"Darkness Stream," summoned Mirajane as purple tendrils spread from her hands only to be negated once they entered Aria's airspace. The Fairy Tail mage knew full well that Aria was the one who had managed to rid Makarov of all his magical ability and knew that if she was careless the same thing would likely happen to her. As for Totomaru, the fire mage was hardly a threat at all but he did provide good support for his teammate, tossing several multicoloured fireballs at the demon to which she easily avoided.

"See if you can avoid this one," he boldly proclaimed as a multitude of colours extended from one hand to the next. "Rainbow fire!"

The attack, while a stunning sight to behold, was powerful enough to have drained most of the fire mage's magical ability. The spread of the attack was vast but Mirajane took it in stride as her wings bat like wings flapped several times in rapid succession, creating a gale force wind strong enough to extinguish the fire. Yet as her attention returned to her opponents she noticed something terribly wrong.

"Airspace: Ruin," cast Aria from behind her, having used the distraction Totomaru created as a cover to teleport through the air to behind the Take Over mage. Mirajane could do nothing but scream in pain as the spell took effect, her magical energy being torn out of every pore in her body. Never had she suffered something so horrible, her skin felt as if it was ablaze with hellfire. "So sad, no matter the wizard, once inside this airspace their magical power will empty. How sad, how..."

"Shut it will you," said Laxus as he sent a bolt of lightning directly into Aria's back, forcing the wind wizard to break his spell before retreating back to Totomaru's side. Yet there was little time to recover as Mirajane crossed the distance between them in an instant, her hand on his chest.

"Evil Spark!" she cast, sending an electrical through his body, stunning him long enough for Laxus to rocket forwards and drive his fist into Aria's face with enough force to break his nose, sending a droplets of blood flying through the air. Before Totomaru could even comprehend what had happened, Mirajane twisted on the spot and drove the heel of her foot into his jaw with enough brute strength to send him flying into a nearby wall, his body print leaving an indentation within the metallic structure.

"Thank you," said Mirajane as she dropped out of her transformation.

"You alright?" asked Laxus, worried about his comrades safety.

"I'll be fine, I just need to rest a while," explained Mirajane. Having held onto her spell for as long as she had and to have had her remaining magical power ripped from her body had taken a fair deal out of the white haired girl. "How's Gray doing?"

Having momentarily forgotten about their other companion and turned to find that he had managed to seal Juvia inside a pillar of ice. Yet where his hand was placed caused a dirty smirk to grow over his face. "Gray you dirty dog."

"Gray, you better be prepared to suffer the consequences," threatened Mirajane as she suddenly felt an influx of magic within herself as her anger grew.

"I'm sorry, it just happened!" shouted Gray trying to get them to calm down. Inside the ice however, Juvia was blushing like mad as she felt the warmth of the ice mage's hand on her breast. Realising what he was doing was wrong, Gray released Juvia from his spell, causing the water mage to drop to her hands and knees as she looked up at Gray, the disciple of Ul unsurprisingly having lost his shirt somewhere during the battle.

"What will you do with Juvia?" asked the blue haired girl as Laxus and Mirajane joined Gray's side, the white haired woman still irritated by what Gray had done.

"That depends, if you stop channelling your magical power to the robot then there is no need for us to harm you," stated Laxus, not really feeling like electrocuting the water mage for no real reason.

"But, Juvia's a member of the Element Four, a wizard of Phantom," said Juvia as confusion continued to cross her mind.

"After the attack today, it is more likely than not that Phantom will be disbanded for having attacked another guild on such a high level to go to the point of threatening regular civilians," explained Mirajane. "The council is very strict on these things."

"So what should Juvia do?" asked the only member of the Element Four still conscious.

"Juvia," said Gray as he knelt in front of the water mage and grabbed her hand gently, causing her face to heat up significantly. "Please, do the right thing." Whatever Gray meant by the right thing didn't go according to plan as Juvia fainted right in front of them. "Oi, oi, hang in there," said Gray worryingly as he tried to help the rain woman, Laxus laughing at the situation while Mirajane looked out a nearby window. Together they had stopped the Element Four and as a result prevented the casting of Abyss Break. Yet there was still one person unaccounted for and while they prepared themselves to help Ul tackle Jose, just where was Gajeel?

...

Having stalked the mages of Fairy Tail throughout the street, Gajeel stood in front of the store house he knew contained the injured members of the enemy guild. His instructions were clear but he had no intention of listening to Jose anymore, not after what he had recently experienced. He was here for his own reasons, and he would do anything to get the information he was after.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Jekyll N Hyde: If I knew, I'd tell you**

**Ashk1980: I'm not sure if this is better than canon myself but thanks for the compliment.**

**Son Goshen: But you have to remember why Gajeel joined originally, it wasn't because of Natsu.**

**NarutoTheTrueLegend: Even with his changed personality, having Laxus with a partner...it just doesn't sit right, at least not now. Something might happen later on, we'll just have to wait and find out.**

**Now as a side note this will likely be my last chapter of this story for quite some time. I'm not going on voluntary hiatus as such, but I won't have access to a computer on a regular basis for a number of months. Sorry for the inconvenience, I'll update when I can but I can honestly say I have no idea when that will be.**

**Ja Ne.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

The door to the safe house burst open, the injured members of Fairy Tail whipping their heads around to see who had disrupted them in such an abusive manner. Needless to say when they saw the black haired Gajeel the abusive manner no longer seemed like such a big deal. Those that could stand got to their feet, some more swiftly than others as they prepared to tackle the Iron Dragon Slayer with whatever amount of energy they could muster.

Gajeel however took everything in stride, his eyes focusing on the original target he had been assigned, Lucy Heartphilia. The blonde haired celestial mage stood with her hands on her keys, her mind already playing through a number of plans in her head on how she could prevent as much damage befalling her friends as possible. Loke and Reedus, the other two members of Fairy Tail who were the most likely to put up a challenge were standing by her side, Loke's fear of celestial wizards seemingly having vanished with a more fearsome opponent in front of him. Protecting the guild was, and would be his duty for as long as he remained in this realm.

"What do you want?" asked Lucy, her voice trying to hide her fear of the man in front of her. From reports of the invasion it had apparently been this man who had dealt a severe amount of damage to her friends.

"Phantom wants you," declared Gajeel as he pointed a finger at the female mage, making Lucy tense nervously wondering why another guild was targeting her.

"We won't let you touch her!" shouted Loke, his hands illuminating a golden light much unlike any magic any of his fellow guild members had seen him display before.

"However, that is not why I am here," said Gajeel. "All I seek is information."

"We have nothing to tell you," said Reedus who unlike his fellow guild members struggled to keep the fear in his voice from seeping through his teeth.

"Look, if you tell me what I want to know then there is no reason for me to take the girl, or you remain silent, I beat the hell out of the lot of you and take the girl to Master Jose! The choice is yours to make and I will tell you that I'm not a patient man," shouted Gajeel getting frustrated with the people in front of him. While his orders were clear, he would not go as far as to attack the people who could not fight back, even a person like him had more honour than that.

"You're right, it is our choice to make," said a female voice but his eyes grew wide as the person speaking was not in front of him, but rather standing behind him. "However you left out a third option, where I beat you senseless and you crawl back to Jose with you tail tucked between your legs. Frankly, I like that choice most of all."

Gajeel turned slowly and shuddered as he saw the scarlet hair that held a dozen stories in their own right. "Erza Scarlet," he said slowly before he found himself ducking to avoid a sword slash. While he was preparing himself to avoid another one of her attacks, he found himself blindsided as the heel of Loke's foot connected squarely with the side of his head with enough force to make his body bounce across the cobblestones of the back street. It didn't take him long to find his feet again before transforming his arm into an iron pole to defend himself from yet another sword strike from Erza. Steel clashed with iron, the two metals colliding with each other on a number of occasions as Gajeel did his best to hold off the onslaught that rained down upon him.

A piercing strike broke through his defence and he found the tip of the blade held only an inch from his right eye. He dared not make a move, knowing that the danger of the situation was much higher than anything he had encountered beforehand. "Ask," demanded Erza as she lowered the sword only to lift it to his chin.

"What?" asked Gajeel confused about the quick turnaround that had occurred only to find the steel pressed against his skin.

"What is it that you wanted to know? Don't make me ask again!" demanded Erza making Gajeel lift his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"I want to know of the day the dragons roared," stated Gajeel, swallowing nervously as Loke and Lucy caught up to where the dragon slayer and Erza stood, Reedus having stayed behind in case a second attack came at his allies.

"The day the dragons roared?" repeated Lucy, the phrase having no true meaning to her. She looked towards Loke hoping the playboy would be able to offer an answer but he looked just as confused as she did.

Erza could do nothing but turn her eyes away from Gajeel as she lowered her sword arm away. "I know of the day you speak of," said Erza, a pain once forgotten now residing in her voice. "However I do not, nor do I ever want to know what happened on that day!"

"I see," said Gajeel, his usual aggressive tone no longer present. "Do you know of anybody that would have that kind of information?"

"Master may know or know of someone who would know, there are three people I know of who know the information but to so much as mention that day to them would bring nothing but sadness and I will not speak their names," stated Erza. "If that is all..."

"Thank you," said Gajeel before turning around. With his business done, he walked away, leaving the members of Fairy Tail standing within a confined group, two of which were curious as to what had just transpired.

"Erza..." started Lucy but she was prevented from saying anything more as Loke placed a hand on her shoulder, signalling that the blonde girl shouldn't push the subject at this time.

"Erza, the guild needs your help," declared Loke.

"On it," said Erza as her demeanour returned to normal, the scarlet haired swordswoman charging off towards the guild determined to help in any way that she could if only to get the thought of what Gajeel had spoken of out of her head.

"Loke," said Lucy getting the handsome wizard to look at her. "The magic you just used..."

"Can be discussed on another day," finished Loke, not particularly wanting to talk about the topic right at that moment. He knew a day would come when both he and Lucy would need to sit down and discuss a future that didn't particularly include the two of them slipping under the sheets of a king sized bed but something much darker. "C'mon, let's tell the others that Gajeel's been scared off."

"Okay," replied Lucy as the two of them turned around to head back to the safe house to inform their friends that they were safe for the moment.

Erza sprinted down the back streets and as she turned onto the main road she was able to see the guild and the giant robot that towered over it. Yet as she got closer and closer she watched as Jose's shades melded into one heinous ball of destruction. From within, a giant rose out of the darkness, held high above the roof of the guild. "Stop it!" shouted Erza at the top of her lungs as realised what was about to happen. With a single strike Erza fell to her knees as the top of the guild was destroyed with a punch. More fists burst forth and tears streamed from a single eye as the building was pummelled with nobody capable of doing anything to stop it.

...

"You monster!" shouted Ul as her fist slammed into her palm. "Ice make: Rosen Kurone!" Unleashing her spell, thorned vines of solid ice stretched forth, weaving their way across the room with enough strength to burst through the solid metal walls. Jose did his best to avoid the oncoming attacks and destroyed anything that neared too close to him. A decisive crash behind him alerted him of an attack coming from behind and only through his quick reaction speed was he able to avoid a piercing blow, the thorns on the vine cutting through the fabric of his cloak.

"For the tenth member of the wizard saints I must say that you fight with a much greater strength than what others would believe," said Jose as soon as he felt like the immediate threat had passed.

"I know your ploy, destroy the guild to demoralise us," stated Ul. "All you've managed to do however is anger me." Jose didn't respond with words but by sending a powerful stream of black magic directly at Ul, seemingly surprising his fellow wizard saint. He watched as Ul took the blow head on before shattering into a hundred shards of ice.

"Ice Make: Rose Garden!" summoned Ul from the other side of the room before she slammed her hands into the ground. Layer upon layer of frozen destruction grew towards Jose at a rapid pace.

"Dead Wave!" shouted Jose as he swung his arm in an arc before firing a powerful beam of darkness magic at the oncoming ice, piercing through the centre of the attack towards where Ul remained.

"Ice Make: Twin Mirror!" said Ul as she summoned two planes of thick reflective ice in front of her at roughly forty five degree angles of one another. As Jose's magic struck the first mirror it bounced off of the ice and into the second mirror which in turn sent the magic back at Jose. Channelling deep into the depths of his own magical energy, he summoned a thin line of concentrated magic that he sent forward, slicing the beam he had fired earlier in half before continuing on its path and slicing the mirrors in half as well. Ul had to do no more than duck to avoid the attack which cleaved through the wall behind her.

"Ul!" shouted Gray as he and the rest of the crew who had defeated the members of the Element Four arrived in the room to see the chaos and destruction that had occurred in their absence.

"Get out of here!" said Ul in a commanding tone.

"We're here to help," declared Laxus as he got into a fighting stance, ready to take on the man who had caused a war against his guild. "And we are not taking no as an answer."

"Sadly for you it would have been the better choice," said Jose as he channelled magic into his palm and slammed it to the floor. Bursting from the ground beneath them, a number of purple serpentine shades surrounded the trio of Fairy Tail wizards before constricting tightly. Mirajane and Gray cried out in pain as the air escaped their lungs. Laxus however began channelling lighting around his body in such vicious amounts that the coils around him were vaporised almost instantaneously. Yet it had been that brief moment that had allowed Jose to strike, flicking a finger at Laxus and sending a bullet of darkness at him that struck his chest with enough force to send him careening into the wall behind him.

"Dead Wave!" summoned Jose as he cast his spell once more, this time however it was at the three latest additions to the battle.

"Ice Make: Shield!" shouted Ul as she cast her spell, creating a barrier in front of her allies strong enough to withstand the blast even though she knew that she had just cost herself the fight. Twisting her head back towards Jose she could see that while she had defended her friends he had fired another beam straight at her, the distance it had covered making her realise that she would be unable to summon anything before the magic struck true. Closing her eyes, she waited for the darkness to surround her, pleased to know that her final moments had been spent protecting those she called family.

Yet moments passed as she realised that the attack had never hit and as Ul opened her eyes she found herself bathed in a golden light. Turning towards her guild mates she saw that the bindings constricting them had evaporated in the light that surrounded them. She then turned her attention towards where Jose stood to that the attack had been blocked by someone and a smile graced her lips as she saw that Makarov had joined the fight.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**With the purchase of a new computer I can safely say that I am back and are writing once again. I'm not going to say though that I will write whenever I can because frankly I like going out and enjoying sunshine like everybody else. With that being said...**

**ElleVipsilion: Lyon will appear when the time is right but his characteristics will be different considering Ul is alive. As for the Thunder God Tribe, they too will pop up within the next couple of arcs. As for seeing them in action...probably at some stage.**

**Peace**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...**

"I am so proud of all of you," said Makarov as he walked to where the mages of his guild sat, the smoking body of Jose hidden underneath a pile of rubble nearby. "You have protected your home and the honour of the guild and I can have no greater gratitude than the happiness I am feeling now."

"Alright already," said Laxus as he waved off his grandfather, trying to get the elderly man to stop his droning. "We did good, but not good enough."

"Jose was an opponent that many would fall against, be proud that everything turned out alright in the end," said Makarov, deciding to end his rant before it began.

"Not everything," said a solemn Gray as he looked out through a broken part of the machine to where they could see the destroyed building they had called their home.

"Bricks and mortar, nothing more," said Makarov as he stretched out his back. "Bit of hard labour and we'll have the place up and running again in no time."

"Maybe even something better, some improvements perhaps," said Mirajane imagining what they could add to the complex.

"I'm sure we can think of something," said Ul with a smile.

"Come on, let's go celebrate our victory," shouted Makarov as he started to head towards the exit, three of the other four members of Fairy Tail quickly following suit.

"Master," announced Gray, the only member of the troupe who had yet to make a move. Pausing in his step, Makarov turned to face the youngest person who had helped in the battle against the Element Four. "There's something I want to know."

"Can't it wait til later," complained Laxus, wanting to get out of this place as quickly as possible.

"Now now Laxus," scolded Makarov lightly, almost in a joking manner. "There was a time when you were full of questions to. What do you want to know Gray?"

"Where is Natsu?" Those three words made the other members of the guild freeze, Mirajane looking particularly distraught by the question. Makarov, Ul and Laxus shared nervous glances unsure about how to proceed with the question they were given." I remember when the team came back from tackling the Beast and Natsu didn't come back something was wrong. Mirajane, you told us that since he couldn't defeat the beast he decided to go travelling and get stronger along the way. At first I believed that but now I'm not so sure, even if he did go running off somewhere he could be dead by now."

"He's dead," said Mirajane with a saddened look in her eyes, the memory seemingly tearing her apart. "He died in my arms on that mission."

"What?" questioned Gray as he stared in disbelief.

"Only S class wizards and Elfman know the truth," said Makarov. "We kept the truth hidden from the rest of the guild."

"But, how, why?" asked Gray at a complete loss of words.

"As harsh as it may sound, we did it for the benefit of the guild," said Ul. "They were hurt when they heard that Natsu wasn't returning for a while, just imagine what it would have been like if they were told he was never coming back."

Seemingly defeated, Gray dropped to his knees, his arms hanging loosely by his side. "Natsu," he whispered under his breath as tears threatened to fill within his eyes.

Laxus looked at the shirtless boy in front of him before turning around, vanishing through the hole in the wall faster than anyone could see. The blonde had no intentions of reliving his own experiences of that moment, hearing of the pink haired teens death had changed him. Without daily challenges from the dragon slayer it left his days with seemingly little to do. He never felt like going on missions but from his seat on the top floor of the guild hall he watched with analysing eyes as the rest of the guild believed that Natsu was out there somewhere training. He could see their belief that he would return stronger push them forward in their skills as well.

Reaching his destination, Laxus appeared in front of the guild members who had stood and fought to protect their home. They all looked up at him and despite the injuries they carried they were ecstatic with their victory and looked towards Laxus with questioning eyes, wondering just how the battle against Jose had progressed. With a sigh he figured that someone had to tell them how it went and began to recount the battle's unfolding.

Back in the ruined headquarters of Phantom Lord, Ul knelt beside the teary form of Gray, holding him in her arms trying to comfort him as best she could. She knew though that whatever she did it wouldn't really do much to help. She recalled watching Gray and Natsu battle it out almost on a daily basis in their youths and despite their fierce rivalry they always ended up smiling after each and every battle regardless of the winner. That competitive nature only seemed to grow as they grew older, both of them trying to up one another by taking on more difficult missions. While he rarely used his ice magic in these scuffles he often spent his evenings training either with Ul or by himself. Natsu meanwhile had nobody to truly help him advance in more advanced magic techniques and because of that Gray soon gained the upper hand. Looking back on it now, Ul couldn't help but wonder that if she hadn't given the extra training to Gray whether or not Natsu wouldn't have joined the Strauss siblings in their mission to stop the Beast.

Makarov stood silently, also recalling the day when he had learnt of the terrible truth that had befallen Natsu and the rules and regulations he put in place because of it. There was always something though with the story that always made it feel off yet he had no doubt that Mirajane had meant every word. He had spent weeks afterwards examining every text he could find in the guild library concerning the passing of a dragon slayer but he could not find a single inscription regarding how it would occur. Without any luck he finally concluded that vanishing in a golden light was linked directly to the dragon slaying magic contained within Natsu and others who had dragons as teachers. It had been the only logical explanation he could come up with but he couldn't help but wonder if he had missed one crucial detail through his literary search.

"We should go," said Mirajane snapping the other three out of their reminiscing. Looking up at her though they could see that she was faring far worse than they were, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Yes, we should," said Makarov. "Enough dwelling on the past, we have the future to look forward to after all."

"Okay," said Gray as he used the back of his palm to wipe his eyes free of the tears. He tried to push himself up to his feet but stumbled and if Ul hadn't been supporting him at the time he would have undoubtedly collapsed onto the floor.

"Easy does it," she said calmly as she composed herself.

"Gray, I must ask that you don't tell anybody about what you have heard today," stated Makarov. "There are still those who believe that Natsu will one day return and I would rather not crush those hopes and dreams."

Gray immediately understood who it was that Makarov was referring to and nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes Master," he said with a slight nod of the head.

"I don't feel like I need to inform you all that not a word of this leaves this room," stated Makarov, his voice resonating with authority on this topic. Without another word he turned to leave, his small frame leading the way for the other three members of the guild. Despite what he had said however, he knew one day he would have to tell the others members of the guild of Natsu's fate, he just didn't know if there would ever be an appropriate time or place to do so.

Looking back on the topic he knew that his decision had been selfish but he couldn't bare to be the barer of bad news. Having informed the guild that Natsu had gone travelling was painful enough, he could only imagine what news of his death would cause to the guild. He knew that the longer he delayed it the worse it would be but perhaps he would be lucky enough to never have to share this secret with those he cared about.

...

Barely a handful of days had been and gone after the destruction of the guild hall and just at the start of rebuilding the council had sent in some of it's elite to interview those who had been involved with the incident. One by one the guild members were interviewed in-depth about what had happened to them and the cause of the battle between the two guilds.

Erza sat nervously as she waited for her turn to come. It wasn't so much that she was nervous about the interview itself but rather the person who was conducting the interviews. From having talked to some of the soldiers who had come along with their superiors she had discovered that a member of both the Ten Wizard Saints and the Council was conducting half of the interviews. Only one person came to mind when those two features aligned and she was frightened of seeing this person again. They hadn't made contact with one another for the better part of a half year but she couldn't stop her heart from fluttering ever so slightly at the thought of getting a chance to talk with him, even if it was for business purposes.

"Erza Scarlet," shouted a member of the council's personalised unit.

Hearing her name being called, Erza pushed herself from her seat and suddenly felt that small fluttering in her chest spread to her entire body. Even though she looked composed on the outside, internally her mind was jumping about like an adolescent school child. She didn't even know if it would be him conducting the interview but the possibility still caused her to get excited. Walking into the tent she pushed the flap to the side as she looked at the person who would be conducting the interview with her. As he looked up from his forms their eyes met and Erza's heart froze.

"Hey, Jellal," she said in a soft tone that none in the guild had ever heard from her lips.

"Nice to see you Erza," said Jellal with a smile as he pushed a blue bang of hair out of his eyes.

"So I take it somebody high up told you to come do something as mundane as this," said Erza as she took a seat across from Jellal.

"How you call a battle between guilds 'mundane' is beyond me," said Jellal with a chuckle. "I actually got dragged along by the other person conducting the interviews. When they heard that the council needed someone to come do this job they were quite determined that nobody else was getting the job. Does that give you any clues as to who it might be?"

"I can take a guess," said Erza with a smile.

...

Ul walked forward towards the tent with a relaxed disposition, knowing that the whole thing was more for appearances than for actually finding out any crucial information. Shrugging her shoulders she guessed that if the council hadn't sent anyone then it would put them in a bad light and of course they wouldn't want something like that to happen. Entering the small enclosure she was nearly knocked off her feet as the woman who would be conducting the interview wrapped her arms around Ul in a ferocious hug.

"Easy does it," said Ul as she gently stroked the hair of the person holding her. "I'm still a little sore from the fighting."

"Oh, sorry mum," said Ultear as she released her hold on her mother.

"Should you even be doing this sort of stuff while on duty?" asked Ul in a semi scolding tone.

"Probably not but nobody will find out," said Ultear waving it off. "I'm just happy to see you in person, we need to catch up more often."

"Yea well as you can imagine with me being a member of the Ten Wizard Saints and you being a member of the council family time really doesn't come into the equation too much."

"Well next week we're naming the successor to Jose's position as a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, you could come to the induction ceremony and watch," suggested Ultear.

"Is it anybody interesting?" asked Ul.

"A member of Lamia Scale, 'Rock Wall' Jura," stated Ultear. "Take the week off, come watch that and spend a week in town with me, I've got a spare room you can stay in and everything."

"You mean the spare room that your ex used to sleep in?" questioned Ul despite already knowing the answer.

"It's not like we were married or anything," said Ultear. "It was just the one guy anyways."

"We need to do this more often," said Ul with a light laugh.

"Talk about my ex?" questioned Ultear.

"Talk in general, I reckon I'll take you up on your offer," said Ul, bracing herself as her daughter caught her in another hug which she returned in favor. It would be several more minutes before any council work got done whatsoever.

...

"...and that's that," concluded Jellal as he finished the required interview.

"So do you know why the attack happened in the first place?" asked Erza.

"Actually we do," said Jellal which surprised Erza somewhat. "A former member of Phantom Lord told us that it was a mission to take one Lucy Heartphilia back to her father, Phantom however just took this as a sign to start a fight."

"Lucy," said Erza knowing that she likely had to tell her Requip student about this soon. "Could I get the name of the member of Phantom who told you this?"

"They wished to remain anonymous," said Jellal which deflated Erza slightly. "However, they also said that if you were to ask for their name to tell you, 'thanks for letting me know what you knew.'"

Erza quickly knew exactly who it was that had tipped off the council. Quickly recalling the conversation they had shared, she knew that she hadn't told them anything truthfully when she had told them that she didn't know what happened upon the day in question. Perhaps there would come a day in the future where she could rectify that lie.

"Anything else you want to know?" asked Jellal.

"Not really, oh wait, have you heard from Simon and the gang?" asked Erza, wondering what her friends were doing.

"Last I heard Simon has been looking for a guild to join, he wanted to join the same guild as his sister but she went and joined Mermaid Heel," recounted Jellal. "To add a little insult to injury I think Milliana went and joined as well but she and Simon's sister have been pretty close friends. Sho's off travelling, heading North in the back of a haywagon most likely. I haven't heard from Wally in the better part of a year, not sure where he is these days."

"I'm sure he's doing fine," said Erza confidently.

"Anyways, as much as I'd love to continue chatting about old times, I do have another ten people to interview before the end of the day," apologized Jellal.

"It's okay, you're just doing your job," said Erza as she stood up from the desk.

"I'll be sure to catch up with you next time I'm in town," said Jellal as he too got to his feet.

"When do you reckon that'll be?" asked Erza.

"Next time your guild gets into trouble again," said Jellal with a cheeky smirk.

"I'll see you in a week then," said Erza playfully.

"For the sake of the guild's reputation I hope not, to see you however I hope so," flirted Jellal causing a small tinge of red to spread over Erza's cheeks.

"Until then," said Erza as she quickly rushed out of the tent scared of what she could potentially do if she was to stay in Jellal's presence a minute longer. Watching from behind Jellal couldn't help but smile at the retreating form of Erza and hoped she wouldn't get teased if anybody noticed red on her cheeks.

...

Days turned into weeks as construction progressed on designing the new guild hall. Lucy was helping out as much as she could, often summoning Taurus to help out with the heavy lifting. She felt good with herself how the last couple of weeks had progressed, she had fought with her father and told him that she was going to live her life her way and she had helped Loke re-enter the spirit world after discovering that he was the celestial spirit Leo. Speaking of which...

"Lucy, how are you," said Loke as he walked towards his new master. Turning to face him, Lucy found that Loke was being accompanied by a woman wearing a maid outfit and a man...in a horse costume?

"Loke, nice to see you, who are your friends?" asked Lucy.

"Ah this is Sagittarius," said Loke indicating the archer who had many members of Fairy Tail looking at him in confusion.

"Nice to meet you moshi moshi," said Sagittarius as he saluted off to the side.

"And you've already met Virgo," said Loke indicating the pink haired maid.

"We have?" questioned Lucy as she searched her memory banks of when she had ever interacted with Virgo. Recalling back to her first mission as an official wizard she jumped back in shock. "You worked with Duke Everlue!"

"Not anymore princess" said Virgo. "When my master was defeated it broke the contract I had with him."

"I see," said Lucy but internally she was ecstatic about being called princess by the celestial spirit.

"As for Sagittarius, he's been without a wielder for a long time," explained Loke.

"After hearing of how you helped my companion back to the spirit world after so long, I decided then and there that you would be my new master moshi moshi," declared Sagittarius.

"Since you helped defeat my previous master that entitles you to my key by right of the prior contract," explained Virgo.

"Wow, this is so much to take in," said Lucy.

"Please punish me if you so desire," offered Virgo.

"Wait what?"

...

"Strike!" shouted Erza to which Lucy responded slashing down at the scarlet haired woman in front of her with the kendo stick that she held. With a warcry she put everything she had behind the attack for it to go straight through the illusionary form of Erza, the image fading away after being sliced in half.

"Change!" shouted Erza as she summoned another illusionary copy of herself to Lucy's right as the mage requiped the weapon in her hand to a different kendo stick which was painted a different colour so that Erza could visually see that Lucy was switching between weapons at a rapid pace. "Strike!"

Twisting on the spot, Lucy slashed through the chest of th illusionary Erza before dropping to her hands and knees exhausted as sweat poured off of her brow. "I'm done," she said through panting breaths.

"You've done well," said Erza with a smile as she helped Lucy back to her feet.

"Of course only you would be considering getting Lucy to train just before we head off," said Mirajane as both she and Lisanna walked up to the impromptu training ground.

"When does the train leave?" asked Lucy.

"We've got to be at the station in an hour," said Lisanna.

"An hour!" exclaimed Lucy as she pushed herself off of Erza and charged towards Fairy Hall with renewed vigour. Before Loke had returned to the spirit world he had given Lucy four two nights accommodation tickets at a brand new beachfront hotel he had earned on his last job. When she had gotten them she had wanted to give one to Ul but the S class wizard hadn't returned from her trip to go visit her daughter despite a fortnight having passed. As such she had invited Lisanna, Mirajane and Erza, deciding to make it a girls only trip. Plus this would give her some one on one time with Mirajane with the high possibility that a photographer would snap a shot at the model with Lucy in the picture. Now however because of Erza's extended training session there was a chance she was going to miss the last train to their destination. Thankfully she had had everything packed by the day before so all she really needed to do was have a quick shower and get changed, she could worry about a more formal cleaning session once they were at the hotel.

Bursting through the door to Fairy Hall, she found herself pausing in mid-step as she found herself looking at the back of a brown haired woman wearing a green dress whom she had never seen before. Last time she had encountered a random stranger in such a way she had almost gotten kidnapped and wasn't taking any unnecessary risks. Putting a hand on her keys, she prayed that she still had enough magical energy to summon one of her spirits in the worst case scenario. "Who are you?" she questioned causing the brown haired woman to turn around.

"Me, I'm the queen of all fairies!" declared the woman boldly as if expecting some kind of worship.

"Not the strangest title I've heard," said Lucy as she figured from the loud expression that this woman wasn't afraid of being found by somebody else in the building. "Nice to meet you, I'm Lucy."

"You may refer to me as queen," said the mystery woman.

"Alright then your highness, if you'll excuse me I have to be on my way otherwise I'm going to be late," said Lucy as she rushed off.

Evergreen stood in the middle of the room happy that somebody finally accepted her for who she truly was, slightly oblivious to the amount of sarcasm Lucy had been using in her statements as she proceeded towards her dormitory.

**...**

**Hope you enjoyed and sorry about the delay. I'm actually off in a different country at the moment travelling so I'm unsure when I'll next get the chance to update but hopefully it'll be much sooner than this time.**

**silent crescendo: The Lucy being all powerful trick really doesn't interest me unless there is good reason for it, despite everything happening concerning Ul and thus Fairy Tail's past, it never altered Lucy's hence she would be the same before the story as in canon.**

**Ryuus2: I'm pretty sure she summoned Nicola to keep more of a pet than anything but I could be wrong.**

**Until next time, Ja Ne.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**...  
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>"This is so exciting," Lucy practically squealed in joy as the group sat within the small room of the train carriage. Despite having arrived only minutes before the train departed they had still been able to get a room by themselves which was a miracle in itself.<p>

"It should be good fun," said Erza as she looked out the window at the moving scenery.

"Hey Mira-nee, when's your next photo shoot?" Lisanna asked of her sister.

"It's just over a week away," stated Mirajane.

"So you'll be back in time for the tournament then," said Lisanna as a broad smile crossed her lips, thinking how she would get the chance to show off her skills to her sister.

"Tournament?" repeated Lucy overhearing the conversation.

"You've heard of the Fantasia parade right?" asked Lisanna.

"I've heard rumors about it but I've never seen it myself," admitted Lucy trying to recall the vague bits of information she had picked up over her time traveling.

"Well you're not going to be watching it either, you're going to be a part of it," said Mirajane with a smile which caused Lucy's jaw to drop slightly.

"What!" she exclaimed.

"Everybody in the guild takes part one way or another," explained Erza. "The only real exception is if you're too injured from the fighting earlier in the day."

"So just what is this tournament?" asked Lucy trying to get her mind off of potentially embarrassing herself in front of a huge audience.

"It's the second annual Fairy Tail Tournament," said Erza. "Fifteen of the guild's members are chosen at random to fight in the tournament."

"Fifteen? That's a bit of an odd number," said Lucy trying to break down the reasoning behind why such a number would be used.

"It's fifteen normal members of the guild, the last fighter is chosen from all of the S class mages," said Lisanna.

"Wait so that means..." started Lucy as she trailed off whilst turning her attention from Erza to Mirajane. Her thoughts then trailed to both Laxus and Ul and knew how quickly she would be trumped in a fight against any of them. "How is that fair!"

"Well when the prize money is five hundred thousand jewels from the S class mages pockets. If the S class mage wins it then the money goes into the guild for the festivities so it's a win win situation all round," explained Erza.

"I'm definitely going to win this!" declared Lucy knowing that the money would easy cover a month's worth of rent and then even leave some left over for spending. Add that to all of the income she would make during that time it would be like Christmas had come early.

"We'll probably need to up your training when we get back to get you in winning form," said Erza confidently.

"Yay..." said Lucy solemnly as she realised that she had just signed herself up for a week of torture.

"Well so long as you don't get last place you'll be fine," said Mirajane with a smile.

"Last?" repeated Lucy unsure what Mirajane meant for a last place in a tournament of sixteen combatants.

"It's probably easier if we tell you how the tournament's actually structured," said Lisanna. "With sixteen people there's eight winners and eight losers after the first round. Those that keep winning move further up the tournament while those who keep losing face the Master's punishment."

"Remember last year when Levy lost? I still can't believe Master made her do that," said Mirajane as she recalled the punishment that had been laid out for the mage.

"I felt so sorry for her," said Erza as she lowered her head, not wanting to think too much more on the subject.

"Wait, Levy lost?" questioned Lucy wondering how her best friend had done so bad.

"She ran against Laxus in the first round and burned up most of her energy trying to fight him, afterwards she was in no real contention to put up much of a fight against the rest of her opponents," explained Lisanna.

Lucy swallowed nervously at the thought of coming up against the S class wizard in the first round and if she found herself in a similar situation as Levy had would it be simpler to give up and make sure that she didn't find herself on the bottom of the table. She was about to speak but was interrupted as the door to their room slid open revealing a woman wearing an overly revealing maid's outfit who was standing in front of a food trolley. The woman had jet black hair which contrasted against both her skin and overly red lips. Lucy found herself looking away scared that from her position she'd be able to see underneath the tiny apron and see the woman's undergarments.

"Why hello there, would any of you lovely demoiselles be interested in a crepe or another treat?" she asked as she displayed the food available with what seemed a fake accent. With a unanimous growl of the stomach Erza was quick to purchase from the trolley soon followed by the other three members of Fairy Tail.

"This is wonderful," said Erza as she took another bite out of the strawberry cake she had purchased.

"That wasn't the normal trolley lady was it," stated Lisanna recalling the last time she had been on the train as she ate the crepe she had purchased. Mirajane simply nodded as she stuck her fork into her salad, having gone the healthy option so that she wouldn't have to worry about having to lose any excess weight before her photo shoot.

"Do you think she lost a bet or something to wear that?" questioned Lucy who placed the sandwich she had bought to the side, not knowing how much longer the train ride would take she had opted to wait a little while longer before digging into her purchase.

"I...I think it's just so that she would get guys to buy more stuff from her," said Erza as she lifted a hand to wipe her eyes.

"Are you alright?" asked Lucy as she saw what Erza was doing.

"I'm fine, I just got sleepy all of a sudden," said the scarlet haired woman before sudden realization slipped through her system. "Shit."

"What, what is it?" asked Lucy in a worrying tone.

"Sleep magic, injected in the food," stammered Mirajane as the salad in her hands dropped to the floor spilling across the wooden floorboards.

"We...need to stop them..." said Lisanna trying to put on a brave face but failed as she found her head slipping on to her sister's shoulder where she snuggled into place despite the predicament.

Sitting next to Lucy, Erza slumped against the window as she fell into a deep sleep while the celestial mage looked across to see Mirajane stroking Lisanna's hair with seemingly the last of her strength. "Lucy...stop them..." she managed to say before she too fell under the effects of the magic and found herself in the blissful state of sleep.

Lucy just looked around in shock horror as the three companions she had taken on this trip slept peacefully around her when the reason for such a thing was menacing in nature. Realizing that this was potentially happening to other people in the carriage Lucy practically leaped off her seat and slammed open the door and turned down the hallway where she saw the trolley lady looking at her in mock shock after having just served the last room. "Oh...was the little mademoiselle not hungry," she said as she placed a finger next to her lips.

"What have you done?" demanded Lucy as she stood out in the hallway.

"I just allowed the people on board to have a little nap, there's nothing wrong with that. Now you're just going to have to go to sleep the hard way," she said while batting an eyelid.

Lucy seemed to immediately react and she could only thank Erza's strict training methods as she reflexively leaped out of the way as a large wooden club passed through the space that her head had previously occupied. Twisting her head over her shoulder Lucy saw that the woman had three companions with her, the brute wielding the club along with two men behind him who were carrying valuable possessions that Lucy could only assume they had taken from other patrons of the train. "Nimble one ain't ya," said the brutish man as he sneered at the girl in front of him.

Her attention lost on the woman in front of her left Lucy to the woman's mercy as she found herself struck across the face. Turning her attention back to the woman in front of her Lucy could see that she wielded a whip that she had seemingly pulled out of nowhere. Lifting her hand up she could feel her cheek burning from the attack but knew that the woman had gone soft on her, had she wanted she likely could have finished the bout there and then. With careful eyes Lucy watched as the next attack sprung forth and she weaved around it while turning towards the three men behind her with one of her golden keys in hand. "Open the Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" she shouted before the spirit she had summoned burst forth immediately barging into the biggest man and knocking him into his companions. "Can I trust you to take care of them?" asked Lucy of her companion.

"For your sexy body, of course," stated Taurus as he braced himself for the battle ahead.

"Try not to destroy the train in the process," said Lucy knowing just how much strength Taurus had before she twisted towards the trolley lady to find that she was missing. However Lucy knew where she went as she saw the swinging whip beckoning her from the outside of a window. Charging forward she expertly leaped over the trolley cart as she left Taurus to deal with the three men as she opened the door to the carriage and began to ascend the ladders nearby. As her head peered over the top of the ladder it was quickly struck by the cold wind which was a quick reminder that the train was still moving.

"There's the demoiselle," said the woman as she beckoned Lucy to join her atop the carriage. Steeling her nerve Lucy clambered on top of the moving carriage and prayed that she didn't lose her footing. It was safe to say that she much rather have fought inside the vehicle then out.

"I'm going to stop you," declared Lucy boldly as the wind blew her hair in all directions.

"Why, have I wronged you in any way?" asked the woman.

"You were going to rob me!"

"Aside from that?"

"..."

"As I thought."

"That's not the point," Lucy practically screamed. "Why do you need to steal?"

"It is all part of the Master's plan," declared the woman boldly.

"Master?" questioned Lucy to which pulled down the top of her maid outfit to show a guild insignia on the top of her breast. Lucy however at this stage was doing her best not to look and while she could likely recognize the guild insignia if given enough time she was more disturbed with the place this lady had had her insignia placed. Her loss of sight was a quick mistake as the lady struck out with her whip and snagged Lucy's leg, tripping the blonde up and making her fall painfully onto her backside.

"You know our Master's always looking for new toys if you wanted to join up," said the woman as she walked towards where Lucy sat. "We could even have some fun on the side."

"...Excuse me?"

"A cutie like you, who wouldn't want you," complimented the woman and while Lucy was taken aback slightly from the words this was neither the time nor the place for this kind of conversation to be going on.

"No, I'm going to stop you here," declared Lucy doing her best to get back to the topic at hand.

"So you want to play rough then," said the woman as Lucy got back to her feet, the woman seemingly happy with allowing her to do so. "Show me what you can do sugar."

Shaking her head of all absurd thoughts, Lucy charged forward as golden light shimmered in her hand before one of her practice kendo sticks burst into existence to which Lucy quickly struck out at the woman's torso. Part of her wished that she could summon another spirit but with Taurus down below she was fairly certain that another spirit would drain her magic supplies to a dangerously low level.

"Can't say I expected that," said the black haired woman as she leaped backwards avoiding the blow. "You're going to need to do better though sweet pea."

"Stop calling me these names!" shouted Lucy who was getting steadily more frustrated with each compliment. It wasn't so much the words themselves but to the fact that it was this woman saying them to her and Lucy couldn't figure out whether or not they were to simply torment her mind or if they were genuine.

"Sugar plum, don't be like that," pouted the woman giving Lucy puppy dog eyes.

Lucy didn't reply as she stepped forward and swung in a wide arc towards where the woman stood, or at least had stood but a quick shuffle to the side allowed them to dodge the blow. For Lucy this was the first actual time she had been in hand to hand combat since she had begun her strenuous training with Erza and she would later need to ask to spar with the scarlet haired woman so that she could get used to fighting somebody other than wooden training posts.

Broken from her thoughts Lucy swerved her torso as the woman's whip pierced the air she had previously resided and she quickly had to react once more as she found the woman's boot coming towards her face. Leaping backwards Lucy managed to avoid the attack but failed to land correctly as her footing gave way from underneath her and she began falling to her left, right where the edge of the carriage came to an end.

Lucy screamed in terror as she flailed about like a doll, unable to stop her fall as she closed her eyes expecting her demise to quickly be upon her. Her fingers desperately tried to reach out for the edge and while the tips of her fingers scraped the moving train she was unable to get a good enough hold to support herself and she truly believed this was the end.

Her fall came to an abrupt stop though as the woman grabbed hold of her wrist and held on with all her strength, doing her best to make sure that Lucy would live to see another day. "Can you get in through the window sweet cheeks?" she asked as she wondered just how long she could hold on for before her own grip slipped.

Thankfully it wouldn't have to come to Lucy kicking in the window as a bulky arm smashed through the glass easily to make sure that Lucy would not fall anytime soon. "Taurus!" shouted Lucy in thanks as her spirit grabbed her body and helped her back into the safety of the cart. Upon thanking the bull she noted that the three men that he had fought were all collapsed in a corner of the carriage knocked out completely cold.

"Is your nice body alright Lucy?" questioned Taurus showing genuine concern for his key holder.

"I'm fine, thank you," said Lucy as she came to grips with what had just happened before the door opened to reveal the woman she had been fighting and now owed her life to standing there. "Why?

"I'm a thief, not a murderer," she stated putting a hand on her hip. "I couldn't really let a sweet thing like you simply vanish."

"You like Lucy's nice body too?" questioned the spirit to which he was replied with the woman winking in his direction.

"Get out of here," said Lucy as she sent her spirit back to the world it was summoned from.

"Well I guess it's time I take my leave, it's too late now to try and get out of here with anything so I'll cut my losses and go," said the woman as she closed the gap between them.

"Wait, you're just going to leave your friends?" asked Lucy turning to the lifeless thugs.

"They're not my friends, I simply hired them for this mission and since they failed it's their own fault for being so weak," said the woman running her fingers through her hair. "There's just one thing I need to steal though before I go."

"You're not stealing..." started Lucy but was quickly cut off as she found this woman's lips pressed firmly against her own and she couldn't help but freeze in place. Having never been kissed before she had never imagined that it would feel something like this but she had always thought that it would be with the perfect guy and not some woman wearing a maid's outfit.

The kiss was broken and suddenly Lucy found herself getting sleepy all of a sudden. "The name's Erin, remember it for next time," said the woman as Lucy collapsed into her arms sound asleep. Erin held the girl for a few seconds more than she probably should have before she carried Lucy back to the room she had come from and placed the sleeping form back into the room with the other three sleeping mages. Placing her down gently, Erin leaned in and kissed Lucy once more on the cheek, her bright red lipstick forming a perfect pattern upon Lucy's skin that would ensure that she would get to see the girl again sometime soon.

Turning around she couldn't help but smile as she closed the door behind her. It would be several more minutes before the patrons aboard the train would wake up and by then she would be long gone. It would also be several more minutes after that when Lucy would discover that no matter how hard she tried she would not be able to get the lipstick mark off of her cheek no matter how hard she tried to scrub it off.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Just when you thought I couldn't create an original arc, boom! Having Lucy and co having a relaxing time at the resort sounded all well and good in theory, but of course without the Tower of Heaven there wouldn't be much fun to twist the thing around. Plus I realized that since I have Lucy as a main character alongside Lisanna I needed to give her some page time, and what better way then to have her first confrontation with an overly flirtatious maid.**

**JasminDragon92: I already have enough stalkers so you're just going to have to wait in line like everybody else.**

**Ryuus2: Yes, we finally get to see the results of Lucy's training in the coming arcs and battling on top of a moving train is as good a place to start as any. For your rant, yes I understand about all the commotion but if you imagine the whole situation had they returned to the guild and explained Natsu wasn't coming back because he died protecting Lisanna, how would that make the guild treat the white haired girl alongside how would she feel about herself. Yes it's a huge lie that most would have seen through but to Lisanna it's what kept her going.**

**Peace.**


End file.
